:: Palace makes new acquisitions at Cannes

By: Carmine Pascuzzi

One of the leading Australian film distributors, Palace Films, has acquired several new titles at the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival.

From sales agent MK2, the company purchased all rights for Australia and New Zealand to the heartrending French drama Summer Hours (L‘heure d’été), written and directed by auteur Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling and Jérémie Renier.

Summer Hours tells the story of three siblings dealing with the death of their mother and disappearance of their childhood memories, as they make difficult decisions about what to do with her valuable estate. The film opened in France in early March to great acclaim and has been hailed as Assayas' finest work to date.

Also acquired in Cannes from sales agency UGC is Philippe Claudel‘s I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime), starring Kristin Scott-Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein. This powerful story of familial struggles and redemption follows a shell-shocked Juliette (Scott-Thomas), who returns to live with her younger sister Lea (Zylberstein) after being banished from the family for 15 years. An enormous critical and box office success in France with over one million admissions to date, Scott-Thomas’ phenomenal performance has already been singled out by critics for end-of-year award consideration.

I've Loved You So Long and Summer Hours are slated for Australian and New Zealand release by Palace Films within the next twelve months.

Several Italian films have also been acquired for the 2008 Lavazza Italian Film Festival, including Cannes Official Selection (Special Screenings) Wild Blood (Sanguepazzo), directed by The Best of Youth's Marco Tullio Giordana and starring Monica Bellucci, and the multi award-winning Girl By The Lake starring Valeria Golino. These and other Italian features signed by Palace will premiere at this year's Italian Film Festival in September.