Cargo Film & Releasing Picks Up Hot Docs Title ‘Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest’ (EXCLUSIVE)

New York City-based global documentary film sales agent Cargo Film & Releasing has nabbed world rights, excluding Denmark and Sweden, to Mads Hedegaard’s feature length documentary debut “Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest,” which premiered at last week’s CPH:DOX and plays this week at Hot Docs.

The feel-good film centers on Kim Cannon Arm, who is not your average grandpa. With killer hand-eye coordination and a mean mullet, he’s a legendary fixture at Copenhagen’s Bip Bip Bar, and renowned for playing the 80s arcade game Gyruss for 49 hours straight on a single coin. With help from his buddies at the bar, a community of outsiders who support one another no matter what, Kim attempts to obliterate his previous record and play for 100 consecutive hours – or four days.

More from Variety

In this often humorous film, Hedegaard provides a philosophical look at world records, iconic hairdos, the importance of community, and an unlikely hero.

Hedegaard commented: “Probably not everyone in the audience has an interest in video games or arcade games, but that’s okay, because you don’t need to — I don’t either. Ultimately, I feel that it has ended up as a film filled with warmth and subtle wit as well as the natural excitement that comes from all record attempts.”

Hedegaard graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2017 and his previous short film, “Skull Fracture or ‘Aren’t You Rather Young to Be Writing Your Memoirs?,'” played at multiple festivals around the world, including DOC NYC.

The film is produced by Good Company Pictures’ Katrine A. Sahlstrøm, whose credits include films such as “Ai Weiwei — The Fake Case,” which was shortlisted for the main prize at IDFA in 2014, “Photographer of War,” and “Beautiful Something Left Behind,” the winner of the Grand Jury prize for best documentary at SXSW in 2020.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing ‘Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest’ to the worldwide marketplace on the heels of its recent festival premieres. Mads deftly uses the narrative of breaking a world record to capture the bonds of a lovable group of friends. And he does it in an entertaining way without ever judging his subjects. It’s a feel-good story we can all use right now,” said president of Cargo Film & Releasing, David Piperni.

Good Company Pictures is co-owned by producers Sahlstrøm and Patricia Drati, and directors Katrine Philp, Kaspar Astrup Schröder and Boris B. Bertram.

“Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest” is supported by New Danish Screen, DR and TV2, in collaboration with SVT.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.