Two Devon farmers named Derek are gaining attention ahead of a US premiere
A British documentary about two neighbouring farmers, both named Derek, is picking up attention ahead of its U.S. premiere, Deadline reported on 27 October 2026.
The film is Derek vs Derek. It follows Derek Gow, a rewilding conservationist, and Derek Banbury, an intensive dairy farmer, who live in Devon. Rewilding means restoring wild land and its animals. In the film, Gow brings wild boar onto his farmland and argues that wolves should return to Britain. The BBC says the story unfolds over three years.
Director James Dawson spent years following Gow to make a rewilding film. Deadline describes the project as a low-budget British documentary, and it compares the film's approach to Wilding, a 2023 hit about rewilding. Funding came from a grant from the Redford Center, a foundation, along with crowdfunding, according to Deadline.
The film is produced by The Slate Works, with Serena Kennedy as producer, and Adam Wishart as executive producer. Wishart is a BAFTA nominee for the BBC and Apple TV series 9/11: Inside the President's War Room. CAT&Docs handles international sales and distribution.
Deadline's Global Breakouts is a fortnightly strand that highlights films and TV shows doing well in their home markets. The film's place on the list reflects that early momentum, rather than a box-office total.
BBC Radio Devon broadcast a 10-minute segment on the film, titled "Rewilding rivalry in new Derek vs Derek film". The Guardian also published a review on 1 October, which framed the film as a rivalry between two men who share a name and very different ideas about the land.
For a general viewer, the appeal is simple. Two men with the same first name, a few fields apart, disagree about what the countryside should look like. The film turns that disagreement into its story.
