U.K.'s Artificial Eye Boards Michael Haneke, Laurent Cantet Projects (Cannes)

3:58 AM PDT 5/13/2011 by Stuart Kemp

Comments

Artificial Eye has picked up Haneke's "Amour" at script stage and Cantet's "Foxfire," the French director's English language debut currently in post-production.

CANNES -- British distributor Artificial Eye has boarded projects from Palme d'Or winners Michael Haneke and Laurent Cantet, snapping up U.K. rights to both.

•Cannes Film Festival 2012

Artificial Eye has picked up Haneke's Amour at script stage and Cantet's Foxfire, the French director's English language debut.

Haneke's Amour re-unites the Palme d’Or winner Haneke (The White Ribbon, Hidden) with actress Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, The Time of the Wolf), and centers on two retired classical music-teachers Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva). One day, Anne suffers a mild stroke, leaving her body paralyzed on one side, and the love that has united the couple for many years is severely tested as a result. Huppert plays the elderly couple’s daughter Eva, and the Films de Losange production also stars William Shimell (Certified Copy).

Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name Cantet's Foxfire is the story of a group of headstrong teen-age girls in upstate New York, 1953. Cantet's classroom-set drama The Class (Entre Les Murs) won the Palme d’Or in 2008.

The brace of deals marks Artificial Eye's desire to up its number of pre-buys. Managing director Louise Dent said: "Recent years have seen Artificial Eye pre-buying more films and becoming more involved in projects from earlier stages and we look forward to building further rewarding and collaborative relationships in the future.”

Other recent pre-buys include In Competition entry Lynne Ramsey’s We Need to Talk About Kevin.