Oscilloscope Laboratories acquired North American rights to Lotfy Nathan’s debut feature 12 O’Clock Boys, which premiered at SXSW. It is next slated to screen at the Hot Docs and Full Frame documentary festivals, among others. O-Scope will continue to roll the film out to more festivals before its theatrical, DVD, and digital releases.

The 12 O’Clock Boys are a notorious urban dirt bike pack in Baltimore. Converging in groups and invading the streets, they dangerously — yet magnificently — make their presence known as they pop wheelies and weave in and out of traffic at excessive speeds, all the while taunting the police who must obey a self-imposed “no chase” rule for fear of endangering the public. Nathan frames the three-years-in-the-making narrative through the eyes of the adolescent Pug — a kid from the Westside eager to join the 12 O’Clock Boys’ ranks. Pug reveres the Boys’ every move, and Nathan follows this young man through some of the most pivotal years of his life, providing a compelling and intimate personal story within the broader depiction of the wild, dynamic world of the 12 O’Clock Boys.

Dan Berger of Oscilloscope said, “In 12 O’Clock, Lotfy has introduced us to a world so compelling, so foreign, and so relatable all at once. It’s a portrait of a subculture as much as a window into the state of America, and it’s all in the guise of The Wire by way of Cirque Du Soleil. It’s seriously like nothing you’ve seen before.”

“Oscilloscope’s great. I really hope they don’t f*&k this up,” Nathan said, loftily.

The film was both directed and produced by Nathan. The deal was negotiated by Berger and David Laub of Oscilloscope with ICM Partners and Marc H. Simon of Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP on behalf of the filmmakers.