Diaphana Distribution has made a pre-Cannes acquisition for France of Michael Moore's documentary Bowling For Columbine which plays in competition on Friday. Alliance Atlantis Entertainment Group is handling worldwide sales on the film under managing director, international motion picture sales, Charlotte Mickie.

"Diaphana is uniquely positioned and qualified to launch this movie in France where the buzz, frankly, is already extraordinary," said Mickie in a statement. "The politics of Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine are the zeigeist of Europe now."

The film, which is already receiving heat from US buyers, was produced by Moore's Dog-Eat-Dog and Alliance Atlantis-owned Salter Street Films. It looks at the pathology of violence in the United States which has the highest gun-murder rate in the world.

Alliance Atlantis has a busy Cannes, with two other films in selection - Atom Egoyan's Ararat out of competition and Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar in Directors Fortnight - as well as a market screening of Neil Jordan's The Good Thief and other titles including Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny and Canadian hit Men With Brooms.