IFC Films has added two more films to the company’s slate of Cannes acquisitions, picking up U.S. rights to Gregg Araki’s “Kaboom” and Jorge Michel Grau’s “We Are What We Are.”
While some usual Cannes buyers have been missing in action this year (or maybe Harvey Weinstein has been too busy trying to buy back Miramax to worry about buying movies), IFC has made multiple deals, acquiring Xavier Dolan’s “Heartbeats,” Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified Copy,” Bertrand Tavernier’s “The Princess of Montpensier” and Antoine Blossier’s “Prey,” and partnering with the Sundance Channel to release “Carlos.”
“Kaboom” (right), which was an official Cannes selection but screened out of competition in a midnight slot, is described in the IFC press release as “a hyper-stylized ‘Twin Peaks’ for the Coachella Generation, featuring a gorgeous, super hot young cast.” Araki’s other films include “The Doom Generation” and “Mysterious Skin.”
“We Are What We Are,” which screened in the Directors Fortnight section at Cannes, is about a family of cannibals struggling to survive when the father dies. It is the first feature from Mexican filmmaker Grau, who previously made several short films.
Both deals were negotiated with Wild Bunch, which was representing the films. “We Are What We Are” will be released by IFC Midnight, the company’s genre and specialty label.
