UK specialist distributor Artificial Eye Film Distribution has picked up Austrian auteur Michael Haneke's Cannes Official Competition entry The Piano Teacher.

The Austrian-French title, which is represented on the Croisette by international sales outfit MK2, stars Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot and Benoit Magimel.

Artificial Eye this year teamed with Metro Tartan Films, another leading UK foreign-language distributor, to set up a jointly owned video sales company under Mike Flello, former head of Fox World Cinema. The renowned distributor also aims to step up in-house production activities.