Strand Releasing Takes U.S. Rights to Cannes '05 Opener "Lemming"

A scene from Dominik Moll's "Lemming," which Strand Releasing will open in the U.S. Image courtesy of Celluloid Dreams.

Culver City, CA-based Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to Dominik Moll's psychological thriller, "Lemming," which opened the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in May, the company announced Thursday evening. The film, which stars Laurent Lucas ("Harry, He's Here to Help!"), is in this year's Telluride Film Festival lineup. Charlotte Mickie of Paris-based film sales agency Celluloid Dreams negotiated the deal with Jon Gerrans of Strand.

According to a Strand release, the film follow, "Lucas, Charlotte Rampling, and Charlotte Gainsbourg in a descent into madness when the trio engage in a civil business dinner that evolves into an unspeakable turn of violence and hatred."

"We're thrilled to be working with both Celluloid Dreams, Ms. Rampling and the team of ‘Lemming' who we also worked on with ‘Who Killed Bambi?'" commented Strand co-president Marcus Hu and Gerrans in a joint statement. Strand recently acquired two other titles from Celluloid Dreams, including Cannes '04 jury prizewinner "Tropical Malady" by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Jun Ichikawa's "Tony Takitani," which screened in competition at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Strand's upcoming slate includes Tim Kirkman's "Loggerheads," Scott Coffey's "Ellie Parker," and Craig Lucas' "The Dying Gaul," which the company will co-distribute with Holedigger Productions.