Signs of Toronto thaw as IFC takes US on Valhalla Rising

Meanwhile Focus Features, Miramax and The Weinstein Company were believed to be circling Tom Ford’s directorial debut A Single Man following last night’s North American premiere.

CAA was fielding intense interest on the film, which features Venice Coppa Volpi winner Colin Firth as a grieving gay professor. Meanwhile international rights holder IM Global closed multiple territory deals in a frantic night of deal making.

Elsewhere, Submarine’s Josh Braun is understood to have received several bids for Don Argott’s documentary The Art Of The Steal and UTA agents were in negotiations with buyers for Cracks.

Neil Jordan’s Ondine, Aaron Schneider’s Get Low, Venice Golden Lion winner Samuel Maoz’ Lebanon, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves Of Grass, and Derrick Borte’s social satire The Joneses are all expected to be in play.

IFC’s Arianna Bocco negotiated the Valhalla Rising deal with Carole Baraton from Wild Bunch. The film premiered on Friday and stars Mads Mikkelsen as a mute, one-eyed warrior who escapes from his captor and embarks on a dark journey of the soul.

This is Mikkelson’s third film with Refn after the first two instalments of Refn’s Pusher trilogy.

“Nicolas Winding Refn knows film like no other director,” IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring said. “He elevates genre to the realm of art and has established himself as one of the most audacious film-makers working in Europe today.

IFC Films plans to release in 2010 via its IFC In Theaters theatrical and VOD day-and-date platform.