Just announced today is the official acquisition of Cannes prestigious Palme d'Or winner
Winter Sleep (
check Ben Croll's excellent review here) in the Australian territory. This is an excellent, exciting and timely purchase for distributor Sharmill Films, fingers crossed it premieres theatrically here soon or is part of the Melbourne International Film Festival lineup.
...also acquired for Australian distribution is Swedish film Force Majeure (Turist), winner of the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard category.
Winter Sleep, directed by the masterful Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), also won the FIPRESCI prize awarded by the international critics. The film is a Chekhovian meditation on marriage starring Haluk Bilginer and Melisa Sözen.
Executive Director of Sharmill Films, Natalie Miller AO, said she was thrilled that Winter Sleep was awarded the top prize in Cannes. "The film is a masterpiece," she said.
"Winter Sleep was one of our two new acquisitions," commented Miller. "We are thrilled to have the Scandinavian film Force Majeure, a disaster movie set in a ski lodge in the Swiss Alps, directed by Ruben Östlund, it has received rave reviews from critics in Cannes."