UK distributor Curzon Artificial Eye has picked up four films from Cannes, including Palme d'Or winner The Class (Entre Les Murs).

The other acquisitions are Il Divo, O'Horten and Ashes Of Time Redux.

Laurent Cantet's The Class, starring Francois Begaudeau, was sold by Memento. The French production is about a teacher's first year at a diverse school in inner-city Paris.

Jury prize winner Il Divo by Paulo Sorrentino is an Italy/France co-production sold by Beta. Tony Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, Flavio Bucci and Carlo Buccirosso star in the biopic of former controversial Italian prime ministerGiulio Andreotti.

Un Certain Regard selection O'Horten is a Norway-Germany-France co-production directed by Bent Hamer. Joachim Caimeyer, Bjorn Floberg & Githa Norby star in of a retiring Oslo train engineer. The Match Factory handles sales.

Wong Kar Wai's Ashes Of Time Redux, reworking of his 1994 Hong Kong martial arts epic, is sold by Fortissimo.

Also, Curzon Artificial Eye MD Louisa Dent pre-bought Ari Folman's animated Competition title Waltz With Bashir, about the Lebanese war. The Match Factory also handles sales for that title.

Dent said: 'For over 30 years Artificial Eye has been the premier distributor of independent, art house and foreign language film in the UK. I am both honoured and delighted to have the opportunity to uphold and further this hard-won reputation so I'm naturally thrilled to have this year's extraordinary Palme d'Or winner, Laurent Cantet's The Class, Paolo Sorrentino's Jury Prize winner Il Divo, as well as three other wonderful films which are sure to excite, entertain and challenge audiences.'

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