The first film supported by Candescent was "The Queen of Versailles", which was the opening night film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for a DGA Award, IDA Award and Critics' Choice Award. Hartley served as an executive producer. As a producer on "Sons of the Clouds", a documentary exploring human rights issues in Western Sahara and starring Javier Bardem, Hartley won the 2013 Goya Award for Best Documentary Film. The film premiered at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival, had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was also screened at the United Nations in New York, the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights in Washington, DC, and at the European Parliament in Brussels.