CastleHill Productions and Dream LLC have acquired US and English-speaking Canadianrights to A Dean Bell's award-winning crime drama What Alice Found.

Thecompanies will jointly release the film in US theatres, starting with New Yorkon Dec 5 and Los Angeles and San Francisco on Dec 19.

Thedeal was brokered by Dream LLC's chief executive officer Mark Balsam, CastleHill's president of marketing and distribution Mel Maron and Peter Newman andGreg Johnson of Gotham Films Sales in New York.

What Alice Found centres on a 19-year-old woman and the secretivemiddle-aged couple she encounters after her car breaks down during aninterstate journey. Judith Ivey and newcomer Emily Grace star.

Thefilm won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year and picked up theGrand Prix at the Deauville Film Festival in September.

"Theacquisition of What Alice Found represents a continued desire to acquireand release distinct motion pictures with Dream LLC," Castle Hill's Maron saidin a statement.

Thepartners have collaborated before on acquisitions and releases, most recentlyon the re-release of Short Eyes, Robert M Young's child molester dramathat originally came out in 1977.

NewYork and Florida-based Castle Hill Productions distributes, produces andrepresents films and producers and during the course of its 25-year history hasbuilt a library of more than 350 titles.

DreamLLC is a New York-based distribution and production company with a library ofmore than 300 titles for worldwide distribution.