Independent UK distributor Optimum Releasing has picked up all UK rights on Jean Luc-Godard's Cannes competition entry Eloge De L'Amour (In Praise Of Love).

Described as a meditation on the themes of memory and history, the film was sold on the Croisette this year by Wild Bunch, and was hailed as a return to form for the enigmatic French director.

Optimum, set up by Will Clarke two years ago, plans to release the film theatrically in the UK later this year. The company last year re-released Godard's new wave classic A Bout De Souffle theatrically in the UK.

Clarke said: "We are extremely pleased to have secured the acquisition of such an incredible and innovative film. It is inspiring that after 40 years of film-making, Jean-Luc Godard can still create one of the freshest, most original films of this year's Cannes festival."