Alternativa Distribution lines up ‘socially meaningful’ films for Mipcom debut

Non-profit film initiative Alternativa’s fledgling non-theatrical distribution label is gearing up to make its Mipcom debut next week with a slate of impact-driven films.

Avital Lavi

Alternativa Distribution claims to offers fairer terms for filmmakers from the Global South while bringing socially impactful films to audiences worldwide through affordable licence fees.

Alternativa is backed by the ride-hailing app inDrive, which operates in more than 1,200 cities in 48 countries.

Focusing on linear and non-linear broadcast rights, the non-profit distribution arm is led by former yesDocu and TikTok alumni, Avital Lavi, who serves as head of distribution and is based in Berlin.

It recently added the films Elephants in the Fog (2026, director Abinash Bikram Shah), No Good Men (2026, director Shahrbanoo Sadat), Lost Land (2025, director Akio Fujimoto) and Academy Award-nominated documentary Four Daughters (2023, director Kaouther Ben Hania) to its slate.

The slate also includes the films 9-Month Contract (Georgia and Bulgaria, 2025, director Ketevan Vashagashvili), After the Rain (China, 2021, director Jian Fan), A Poet (Colombia, 2025, director Simón Mesa Soto), Being Olimpia (Mexico, 2025, director Indira Cato) and Bird of a Different Feather (India, 2024, director Manohara K).

Other titles featuring include Grand Me (Iran and Belgium, 2024, director Atiye Zare Arandi), If Only I Could Hibernate (Mongolia, 2023, director Zoljargal Purevdash), Saba (Bangladesh, 2024, director Maksud Hossain), Sunshine (Philippines, 2025, director Antoinette Jadaone) and The Nature of Invisible Things (Brazil and Chile, 2025, director Rafaela Camelo).

Alternativa Distribution is representing exclusive, first-window regional or international non-theatrical distribution rights for the full-length features, including scripted, documentaries and animation, with strong social and cultural themes.

Acquisitions are being sourced via a global network of film scouts, industry partnerships, direct submissions and through inDrive’s nomadic Alternativa Film Festival, which saw its third edition take place in Medellín, Colombia, in April. The forthcoming 2027 edition is planned to take place in an African country.

Across its slate, Alternativa Distribution is focusing on securing sales with regional and local streaming platforms, public and pay TV broadcasters, in-flight entertainment and institutional educational platforms in the Global South (Latin America, MENA, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia), alongside major markets of Europe, North America and Oceania.

Arsen Tomsky, CEO and founder of inDrive, said: “Exceptional filmmaking can come from anywhere, but access to international audiences remains to be a process hindered by a deeply unequal system.”