New Wave sweeps up Cannes films

New distributor nabs 'Silence,' 'Monkeys'

By ADAM DAWTREY

LONDON — Robert Beeson and Pam Engel’s new Brit arthouse distrib New Wave Films has acquired two films in this year’s Cannes competition, “The Silence of Lorna” by the Dardennes brothers and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Three Monkeys.”

Beeson and Engel launched New Wave in February after they ankled from Artificial Eye.

They have also acquired Johanna Hogg’s “Unrelated,” which won the Fipresci award at the 2007 London Film Festival, Andrzej Jakimowski’s “Tricks” and Antonello Grimaldi’s “Quiet Chaos.”

“Unrelated” will be New Wave’s first release, set to open in September. The company expects to handle four to six theatrical releases a year.

Verve Pictures will handle theatrical bookings and DVD releases for the company, with Engel and Beeson focusing their energies on London dating and the overall press and marketing strategy.

Engel commented, “Our philosophy remains the same as when Andi Engel and I established Artificial Eye over 30 years ago, with Robert joining us soon after: to acquire quality arthouse films from around the world and present them to the audience that we know extremely well, plus attracting the next generation of cinemagoers to these movies.”

At Artificial Eye, Engel and Beeson released all the previous films by Ceylan and the Dardennes brothers.