Camera d'Or Winner "Leap Year" Jumps to U.S.

A scene from Michael Rowe's "Leap Year." Image courtesy of Strand Releasing.

U.S. rights to Michael Rowe's Cannes Camera d'Or winner, "Leap Year" (Ano Bisiesto) have been picked up by Strand Releasing from Pyramide International, the Culver City-based distributor said on the eve of their honor at a retrospective being held at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing negotiated the pact with Yoann Ubermulhin of Pyramide International. The company plans an early 2011 release.

The film centers on Laura , a young 25-year-old journalist and her intense sexual relationship with Arturo, a man she meets after a long string of one night stands, leads into a sexual relationship in which pleasure, pain and love merge.

This dark and evocative tale is “about a relationship of power between a man and a woman, but at the same time in many ways, it’s a metaphor for the complex victimizer-victim dichotomy that I think is the very heart of Mexican national identity,” says Rowe, a native Australian who has lived in Mexico for over 16 years.

"Leap Year" is Rowe’s debut film which premiered in the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes and subsequently won the Camera D’or prize at this year’s festival.

Strand’s slate for 2010/2011 includes Francois Ozon’s "Hideaway," Lou Ye’s "Spring Fever" and Pablo Trapero’s "Carancho."