EXCLUSIVE: Adam “Mr. Moo” Moskowitz had a lot of gall going to Gaul. The American cheesemonger set out to dethrone the French at their Mondial du Fromage, the Olympics of Cheese, by a captaining an upstart U.S. team. Sacré bleu cheese!

This pungent story is told in the award-winning documentary The Big Cheese, directed by Sara Joe Wolansky. Obscured Releasing today announced it has acquired North American distribution rights to the film with plans for a limited theatrical release in August before a VOD platform debut later this year.

“In Europe, cheese mongering is a vaunted, prestigious career,” notes a release. “In America, it often means working minimum wage at a grocery counter. Adam ‘Mr. Moo’ Moskowitz is attempting to change the way American cheesemongers are seen by coaching a team of U.S. competitors to victory at the Mondial du Fromage, the ‘Olympics of Cheese,’ in France. The Big Cheese follows these underdogs as they battle cultural clashes, personal struggles, and melting cheese while training for the ultimate cheese competition.”

The Big Cheese premiered last November at DOC NYC, where it earned runner-up for the Audience Award. Since then, it has won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the Beloit International Film Festival, Best Director Award at the Phoenix International Film Festival, and just a few days ago, the Lena Sharpe Award For Persistence Of Vision, presented By Women In Film Seattle at the Seattle International Film Festival. The Big Cheese has also screened at IFFBoston, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and more.

“What we love about The Big Cheese is that it gives the audience much more than any competition-focused documentary we’ve ever seen,” said Obscured Releasing’s RJ Millard and Bill Guentzler. “Sara Joe Wolansky’s film connects us to the personalities, starting with ‘Mr. Moo,’ highlights the drive each cheesemonger has to become the best, and takes us inside the high stakes world of the Mondial du Fromage. And, of course, we all love cheese.”

In a statement, director Sara Joe Wolansky said, “I am beyond excited to be partnering with Obscured Releasing to bring our optimistic and extremely cheesy film out into the world. I know it’s in good hands with a team that gets what makes our story of passion and redemption special… and is equally committed to making people crave cheese.”

The Big Cheese is a presentation of Shhh: It Happens, Infinite Films, and Fanny Pack Films, in association with Deep Cut. The acquisition deal was negotiated by Adam Moskowitz, Sara Joe Wolansky, and James Smith on behalf of the production and Bill Guentzler and RJ Millard on behalf of Obscured Releasing.

“The Big Cheese is about mavericks in cheesemongering so it makes perfect sense to partner with the mavericks of distribution,” commented Adam “Mr. Moo” Moskowitz. “In the fast changing world of entertainment, I want to work with the individuals that care about film makers, storytelling and Obscured people.”

The Big Cheese is directed by Sara Joe Wolansky and produced by Sara Joe Wolansky and James A. Smith. Executive producers are Adam Moskowitz, James P. O’Shaughnessy, Joe Beshenkovsky, and Stacey Reiss.

“Almost 50 years ago, in Paris, France, ‘The Judgement of Paris’ upended the world of wine,” Wolansky writes in a director’s statement. “To the world’s great surprise – the judges, among the best wine tasters in France – chose a California wine in blind taste tests over France for both the red and white flights. The result dethroned Europe’s uncontested supremacy over great wine. Sommeliers all around the world could recommend a California cabernet with confidence.

“That same moment for cheese is here. In the last 10 years, artisanal cheeses have become a booming part of the $35 billion U.S. cheese market, and have begun to earn worldwide renown and respect. Yet while cheesemongers in Europe are hired in Michelin star restaurants and to cater royal functions, cheesemongers in America largely toil behind grocery counters making minimum wage. In the U.S. today, cheesemongering is a career for a certain type of food industry misfit – an artist, a restaurant drop-out, a recovering addict, a rebel, or an otherwise lost soul who charts an unconventional path into the American cheese world.

“American cheese and the mongers that serve it deserve our deepest respect. The world just doesn’t realize it yet.”

Wolansky continues, “I’ve spent over three years eating an ungodly amount of cheese. (Alp Blossom and Challerhocker are two of my favorites!) and immersing myself in the people who make up the cheese world.

“The cheesemongers featured in this project – with stories spanning from sobriety to financial hardship, POC mongers looking for inclusion to professionals working outside the box – have enviably found their purpose and community in this odd world. Finding success would mean a chance to be taken seriously, to gain financial security, and prove to the naysayers that it was worth dropping everything to pursue this passion.

“I’ve dedicated myself to presenting quirky, stranger-than-fiction stories with humor and heart; several of my short documentaries have, in fact, been programmed in the ‘Comedy’ sections of film festivals before. Developing my first feature film, I found myself yearning for something that could be a light in the darkness; that would both make people laugh and reinvent the way we see cheese in America.”