Sundance Selects may not have spent as much money at this year's Cannes as, say, the Weinstein Company, but the distributor reinforced its position as the most active buyer of competition titles on Thursday, announcing the acquisition of U.S. rights to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "The Kid with a Bike."
The film is the third that Sundance Selects has acquired from the 20-film competition slate, following Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" and Bertrand Bonello's "House of Tolerance." The distributor also acquired the Cannes marketplace title "Goodbye First Love."
"We believe the Dardennes are among the best filmmakers working today and that this film is one of the high points of a peerless career," said Sundance Selects president Jonathan Sehring in a press release announcing the acquisition.
"The Kid With a Bike" deals with a pre-teen boy placed in a foster care center, and his friendship with a hairdresser played by Cecile de France ("Hereafter"). The film has received generally favorable reviews out of Cannes, and is considered one of the top competitors in the running for the Palme d'Or. The Dardennes have won that award twice before, and could become the first three-time winners.
In the New York Times, Manohla Dargis called it "one of the finest films in competition" and said that it was "maddening" that reviewers, some of whom consider it a slight work by the Dardennes' standards, haven't been more enthusiastic.
Sundance Selects is a sister division to IFC Films and IFC Midnight.
