Cannes favourite Paul Cox, who challenged stereotypes with his story of an elderly couple's passionate affair in Innocence, has unveiled his next production, The Human Touch.

The picture, scheduled to shoot in Australia and France in October, sees the Australian director exploring themes of sexual inhibition on a larger scale than Innocence. The film revolves around the relationship between a young woman and a seductive older man from Europe. Cinemavault Releasing, which sold Innocence to more than 40 countries, is handling international sales.

"People say there are erotic undertones in my films," Cox told Screen International. "I'm not aware of them'They must happen automatically and it must come quite naturally. I don't think of myself as an erotic person."

Cox, whose most recent film was Diaries Of Vaslav Nijinsky, will re-team with producer Mark Patterson, while William Marshall, Nick Stiliadis and Irene Loewy are executive producing. Patterson told Screen that Cinemavault was taking a stake in the film worth three quarters of the budget.

"It is a dramatic follow-up to Innocence," he said. "It will be lush, on a larger budget."