Cannes 2012: Leos Carax's 'Holy Motors' Seals U.K. Deal

Independent distributor Artificial Eye snapped up U.K. rights to a quartet of titles during this year's Cannes Film Festival including Leos Carax's Holy Motors, starring Eva Mendes and Kylie Minogue.

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The art house distribution specialist used cash raised by its film rights acquisition funding vehicle Curzon Film Rights 2 to fuel its spending spree.

It also took rights to Claude Miller's Therese Desqueyroux, Lou Ye's Mystery and Arnaud des Pallieres' Michael Kohlaas.

The deal for Carax’s surrealist Competition film, which also stars Denis Lavant and Edith Scob, was negotiated with Carole Baratan from Wild Bunch.

Therese Desqueyroux stars Audrey Tautou and is an adaptation of the novel by Francois Mauriac and will close the Cannes fest in tribute to director Claude Miller, who died in April at 70. The deal was negotiated with Gregory Chambet from TF1 International for the UGC production.

Playing in Un Certain Regard, Mystery is billed as an infidelity thriller featuring central performances from Hao Lei and Qi Xi. The deal was negotiated with Wild Bunch's Baratan.

Michael Kohlhaas, which is in postproduction, stars Mads Mikkelsen and Bruno Ganz in the story of a wealthy horse trader who raises an army to seek revenge after suffering an injustice. The deal was negotiated with Agathe Valentin from Les Films Du Losange.

Artificial Eye previously secured U.K. distribution rights to two Palme d’Or contenders, Michael Haneke’s Love and Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills, in addition to snapping up distribution rights for Sally Potter’s untitled new project, which is currently in postproduction.