Director Claire Denis

Sundance Selects, a division of IFC Films, has acquired the North American rights to Claire Denis’ French provocation Bastards (Les Salauds.)  Denis is a film festival and cinephile favorite whose past films include White Material (2009), 35 Shots of Rum (2008), Friday Night (2002) and Beau Travail (1999).  Her latest, which premiered at Cannes this past May in the Un Certain Regard sidebar and is set to screen at the upcoming Toronto and New York Film Festivals, stars Vincent Lindon (Augustine), Chiara Mastroianni (Chicken With Plums) and Denis regular Michel Subor, and was produced by Alcatraz Films and Wild Bunch.

The film, which earned divisive reviews when in premiered in Cannes, was described by Variety film critic Scott Foundas as an “insidious web of money, sex and power — a vintage film noir premise — entangles all of the characters in Bastards a hypnotic nocturnal thriller.”

Sundance Selects, also distributing the controversial Cannes winner Blue is the Warmest Color, is set to release Bastards on October 25th.