NDTV Lumiere-backed Alliance Media picks up Cannes winners at bargain prices

The acquisition executives at Alliance Media seem to possess a keen sense of picking up festival winners. It has acquired the India distribution rights of three Cannes winners including the best film  ‘The Class’, that winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or, along with Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s 'Three Monkeys', winner of the best direction prize, and Arnaud Desplechin’s 'A Christmas Tale' that was given a special prize along with Clint Eastwood’s 'Changeling’.

All these deals were signed and sealed much before the announcement of the awards. This should mean a low cost of acquisition since the market section at Cannes did not see much action this year, as big-time Hollywood studios cold-shouldered art house stuff. Lower demand means bargain basement prices. Alliance Media is headed by Sunil Doshi, better known for having produced Bheja Fry, a sleeper box-office hit in India. NDTV Lumiere is a joint venture of NDTV, Manmohan Shetty, and Sunil Doshi.

Now, for those who would like to make a note of what films are worth a watch in Indian Film Festivals, here is a list of Cannes winners :-

PRIZES OF THE 61ST CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

INTL. COMPETITION JURY PRIZES

Palme d'Or
"The Class" (dir. Laurent Cantet, France)

Grand Prix
"Gomorrah" (Matteo Garrone, Italy)


SPECIAL PRIZES OF THE 61ST CANNES FESTIVAL

Catherine Deneuve ("A Christmas Tale")
Clint Eastwood ("Changeling")


BEST DIRECTOR

Nuri Bilge Ceylan ("Three Monkeys,"Turkey-France-Italy)

Jury Prize
"Il Divo" (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy)

Actor
Benicio Del Toro ("Che," Spain-France)

Actress
Sandra Corveloni ("Linha de passe," Brazil-France)

Screenplay
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne ("Lorna's Silence," Belgium-France-Italy-Germany)

SHORT FILMS JURY PRIZES

Palme d'Or
 "Megatron" (Marian Crisan, Romania)

Special Mention
"Jerrycan" (Julius Avery, Australia)

UN CERTAIN REGARD JURY AWARDS

Main Prize
"Tulpan"(Sergey Dvortsevoy, Germany)

Jury Prize
"Tokyo Sonata" (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan)

Heart Throb Jury Prize
"Cloud 9"(Andreas Dresen, Germany)

The Knockout of Un Certain Regard
"Tyson" (James Toback, U.S.)

The Prize of Hope
"Johnny Mad Dog"(Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, France)

OTHER JURY AWARDS

Camera d'Or
"Hunger" (Steve McQueen, U.K.);
Special Mention
"Everybody Dies But Me"(Valeria Gai Germanika, Russia)

Cinefondation Awards
"Anthem"(Elad Keidan, Israel) - first prize; "Forbach"(Claire Burger, France) - second prize; "Stop" (Park Jae-ok, S. Korea), "Roadmarkers"(Juho Kuosmanen, Finland) - third prize, shared

Fipresci Awards: 
"Delta"(Kornel Mundruczo, Hungary-Germany) - Competition; "Hunger"- Un Certain Regard; "Eldorado"(Bouli lanners, Belgium-France) - Directors' Fortnight

Ecumenical Award
"Adoration"(Atom Egoyan, Canada-France)


RKS