"Arming the Arctic"
TVF International has reached several distribution deals in Japan and has announced coproduction with significant companies in the country. The distributor has licensed a number of titles to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, including "Arming the Arctic" (1x50), produced by Wildcat Films and TVF International for RTL Germany, which explores rising geopolitical tensions in the Arctic. The TVF co-production, launched at MIPCOM 2024, pre-sold to RTL and has since sold to YLE, NRK, RTVE, TVI Portugal, ERR, Asharq Documentary.
NHK also licensed a special from long-running series, "The Snake Master", produced by TV Burabha, which goes face-to-face with the rare and venomous snakes of Thailand.
Elsewhere in Japan, the distributor licensed a package of world affairs documentaries to Japanese VOD platform, Asia Docs. The deal includes "The Daughter Tree" (1x80), produced by Trinetra Productions for Arte, which follows a midwife and activist working in the Punjab region of India where thousands of pregnancies are aborted every year because of gender, and "Lost & Found" (1x86) from Falls Family Films for NHK, which follows the extraordinary mission to reunite Japanese artefacts with their owners when they wash up on the coast of Canada a year after Japan was engulfed by a tsunami.
The VOD platform also licensed two films produced by Mediacorp for CNA: "From North Korea with Love" (1x48) which grants exclusive access to a generation of influencers who have defected from North Korea, and "Click to Ransom" (1x48), which goes inside a Japanese hospital in the midst of a ransomware attack.
For Nippon TV’s World Great TV, TVF International licensed two films to Tokyovision. These are "China’s Abandoned Daughters" (1x48), produced by Mediacorp for CNA, which has intimate access to women adopted during China’s strict one-child policy for forced marriages, and the award-winning, SBS-commissioned documentary, "The Surgery Ship" (1x54) from Media Stockade, which follows volunteer doctors on board a floating hospital providing care in remote and developing regions.
For BS4, the distributor licensed two seasons of wildlife ob-doc, "Shamwari Untamed" (23x26), produced by Tracks Multimedia, which follows rangers working in South Africa’s iconic Shamwari Game Reserve.
TVF International is also announcing co-production with Tokyovision, "Japan’s Wild Side" (2x52), which reveals the wonders of Japan’s Animal Kingdom across all four seasons.
TVF’s Senior Acquisitions Manager, Sam Joyce, who has been managing the co-production of this blue-chip wildlife series, commented: “It has been an exciting couple of months for our work in Japan, collaborating with valued long-term partners, and brand new clients. We are delighted to be extending our long-term collaboration with Tokyovision to bring the natural world of Japan to a global audience. This pure-wildlife co-pro is perhaps our most ambitious yet, and is already drawing major interest from buyers around the world. And on the sales side, opportunities in the territory are a testament to our slate of premium one-offs and dynamic, access-driven series, which hit the mark for major buyers in Japan.”