testimonials.

Ensuring your film is in the right hands is paramount for any filmmaker. Navigating the intricacies of your festival strategy and establishing connections with key contacts can pose challenges, yet you can take comfort in the knowledge that we have cultivated a robust network within the festival circuit, a network that has flourished significantly over the years.

Here, you will find endorsements from distinguished figures in the documentary world attesting to the caliber of our work and commitment to elevating films in the competitive festival landscape.

“A pleasure to work with. A creative thinker with great taste … a tremendous advocate for projects under his charge”

Thom Powers - Lead Programmer, TIFF Docs & Co-Founder DOC NYC

“I’ve known Luke for a long time now, and I have so much respect and admiration for his passion for film, and his dedication to the work he does … He has an understanding of the festival market that’s thorough and rare. He would be an incredibly valuable addition to any team.”

Ania Trzebiatowska - Programmer, Sundance Film Festival

“Our lives as festival organisers would be so much easier if only everyone were as professional, friendly, organised, supportive, and all-round nice as Luke”

Mads Mikkelsen - Head of Programme, CPH:DOX

Festivals

“Luke has always been a pleasure to work with. A creative thinker with great taste, he’s a tremendous advocate for projects under his charge who’s mastered the art of polite persistence”
“On behalf of CPH:DOX - I wish to express my warmest recommendations for Luke Brawley with whom I have had the great pleasure working closely over the last many years in his capacity as Festival Manager. In short, our lives as festival organisers would be so much easier if only everyone were as professional, friendly, organised, supportive, and all-round nice as Luke. His passion for cinema and his people skills are absolutely first-rate.”
“I’ve known Luke for a long time now, and I have so much respect and admiration for his passion for film, and his dedication to the work he does. He’s knowledgeable and excited to discover new talent and to support filmmakers and festivals in any way he can. He has an understanding of the festival market that’s thorough and rare. He would be an incredibly valuable addition to any team.”
“Luke is, in a word, incredible – hugely knowledgeable, strategic and thoughtful across the vast world of documentary; someone whose industry insight is second to none, and has always been consistently wonderful to work with.”
“Over the years, previously as Senior Programmer at IDFA, and currently as Creative Director at Sheffield DocFest, Luke has always been a professional, experienced and kind face on the festival / documentary circuit, and someone I would recommend to any filmmaker looking to get the best exposure possible!”
“Luke had been our main point of contact at Dogwoof for ages, and right from the get-go it was obvious that he has an exquisite sense of quality when pitching documentary films from the very top shelf. He’s always been able to balance having the film’s best interest at heart while still building great professional relationships with festivals such as ours. On top of that, he’s simply one of the friendliest faces you will ever meet in this industry and an absolute pleasure to work with. With his help it’s been a joy bringing great cinematic documentaries out to as many people as possible – in our case as CPH:DOX in Copenhagen and in the rest of the country as part of CPH:DOX’s nationwide initiative DOX:DENMARK”
“Whenever Luke Brawley presents a new film, I always know it’s something seriously worth considering. Whether aesthetically, politically, or emotionally, the documentaries are always top-notch, and there are few other doc representatives out there with the same consistent high-quality work.”

“Having interacted with Luke for several years while I've programmed multiple festivals, I've found him consistently to be professional, responsive, and knowledgeable about my events and their curatorial focus, allowing him to identify appropriate films from his slate for my consideration - which is not always the case with all film sales companies. It's always been a pleasure to work with him.”
"Luke is a pro! Juggling filmmaker, festival and company priorities is an art and Luke is not only responsive, knowledgeable and organized, he cares about the work he does. This is an industry built on relationships and Luke has built a formidable network of colleagues across the documentary world."
"Luke Brawley is definitely one of the most experienced and engaged festival agents that I have worked with as an Artistic Director. He is always available, knows to recommend the most suitable films for our festival and it is obvious that he works for the very best interest of his filmmakers."
“At Cannes Classics at the Festival de Cannes we screen documentaries about cinema and Luke would submit regularly. He has always been extremely good at anticipating as well as reacting quickly, keeping me informed and always asking useful and clever questions to make it work in the best way possible. I knew I could rely on him and trust him. Quite a few documentaries were selected as they were great submissions and Luke knew to handle them very well. He has always been professional and very efficient, easy to collaborate with, and responsive. I will recommend working with him without any hesitation.”
“Each year the film proposals from Luke Brawley in Venice were always of a high level, his taste in cinema is very strong and working with such a professional guy was a real pleasure.”
“I have worked with Luke Brawley for over a decade on bringing brilliant documentaries to our festival’s audience. He has always been a passionate supporter of films and of the role festivals play in bringing audience attention to them. If he believes in a film he puts in huge effort and his enthusiasm is so contagious. I always love discussing films with Luke, he’s a true champion of the art form."
“I’ve known and have worked with Luke for many years in my capacity as Artistic Director of DokuFest. Luke was always among the first I'd reach out (or he'd reach to me with new titles) in my constant search for unique and high-quality documentaries. He’s by far one of the most knowledgeable and professional people in the business and also one of the most supportive ones, both to filmmakers and festivals”

filmmakers

THE TERRITORY (2022)
THE CAVE (2019 - Academy Nominated)
"It has been absolutely amazing to work with Luke. He has always so carefully looked out for my films, making sure things are prepared and planned, the festivals always feel they are working with a trustworthy and competent person."
MINDING THE GAP (2018 - Academy Nominated)
“Luke was instrumental in getting my feature documentary MINDING THE GAP in front of audiences all over the world. Always courteous and professional and full of wisdom from his many years at Dogwoof, I was happy to have gotten the chance to work with him.”
STRAY (2020)
"Luke Brawley was a joy to work with. As a director having my first feature documentary released into the world through Dogwoof, Luke was the one person I always felt comfortable reaching out to with any requests I received about my film. Whether it was from programmers, activists, or educators -- no matter how big or small -- he always responded promptly and tried to be as helpful and flexible as he could, ensuring that my film could play at far flung festivals throughout the pandemic even if they had no funding. As filmmakers, we want our work to be seen as widely as possible, and Luke's bottom line was never just for profit, but for the film to be seen by as many people around the world. On a personal level, he was incredibly supportive of my film, Stray -- even sporting our T-shirts on himself and his children on social media -- which meant a lot to me that the professionals I was working with to release my film into the world cared about the work in such a personal way. I highly recommend working with Luke."
BLUE ROAD - THE EDNA O’BRIEN STORY (2024)
PRAY FOR OUR SINNERS (2022)
"Luke was a brilliant person to guide me through the experience of premiering a film at TIFF 3 weeks after giving birth and a subsequence US festival tour. He was so down to earth, practical and kind. I hope we work together again soon. "
KING OF THE CRUISE (2019)
“I really enjoy working with Luke. He is very knowledgeable and a wonderful person to work with.”

RETROGRADE (2022)
THE FIRST WAVE (2021)
CITY OF GHOSTS (2017 - BAFTA Nominated)
CARTEL LAND (2015 - Academy / BAFTA Nominated)
"Luke was an incredible asset on the international release of all my films. He is incredibly dependable, calm under pressure, and an absolute pleasure to work with."
RETROGRADE (2022)
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT (2022)
THE TERRITORY (2022)
THE RESCUE (2021 - BAFTA Nominated)
THE FIRST WAVE (2021)
BECOMING COUSTEAU (2021 - BAFTA Nominated)
"Luke has a broad yet specialist knowledge of the international festival circuit and documentary film distribution, with a rarely matched network of relationships. He’s responsive and organized, and adept at building customized strategies bespoke to each film and filmmaker’s needs."
MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK (2022)
THE STORY OF FILM: A NEW GENERATION (2021)
THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES (2018)
WOMEN MAKE FILM: A NEW ROAD MOVIE THROUGH CINEMA (2018)
“I very much enjoyed working with Luke across four films, and greatly benefited from his wide and detailed knowledge of the film festival circuit.”
THE STIMMING POOL (2024)
“INDOX were fantastic in getting our film THE STIMMING POOL into all of our dream festivals. Luke new which festivals to apply to, in which order, and was extremely communicative and helpful throughout the process. It really felt like we had someone out there championing our film to the industry!”