The deals are already flying fast and furious in Cannes. As befits an international marketplace, most of the action involves far-flung territories, but we're keeping an eye out for US distribution deals too. indieWIRE has a great round-up of the first day's activity, which includes the news that IFC Films has acquired distribution rights to two films.Good buzz about 24-year-old Joshua Safdie's feature debut The Pleasure of Being Robbed began when it world premiered at SXSW in March. Somehow, the Cinematical crew missed seeing it (hey, we're only human, we miss things sometimes), but David Lowery at Spout raved: "It's pure cinema, and as such it's one of the best films I've seen this year." The comedy revolves around a kleptomaniac, played by co-writer Eleonore Hendricks, with a philanthropic streak. Pleasure is the only US title in the Director's Fortnight this year.
In 2005, Tom Hall declared: "There is not a more important filmmaker working today than Arnaud Desplechin." He previously made Kings & Queen and Esther Kahn, among other critically-acclaimed work. The French filmmaker's latest, A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), features Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric "in a contemporary family drama set in France." The film plays in Official Competition and has its first screening on Friday night before opening theatrically in France next week.
We'll have to wait to hear about IFC's specific plans for distribution.
