Leading UK independent distributor Artificial Eye has comeaway from Cannes with a haul of six titles in official selection including thisyear's Palme D'Or winner, the Dardennes brothers The Child, andDirector's prize winner, Hidden, by Michael Haneke.

The other Artificial Eye pick-ups are Francois Ozon's Le Temps Qui Reste,which screened in Un Certain Regard, Dominik Moll's Lemming (this year'sopening film in Cannes), as well as competition entry Three Times by HouHsiao-Hsien and Jury Prize winner Shanghai Dreams by Wang Xiaoshuai.

Artificial Eye is yet to set release dates for most of the titles, althoughHaneke's Hidden is slated to be seen in British cinemas in January 2006.All the new acquisitions are likely to surface at either the Edinburgh FilmFestival in August or the London Film Festival in October prior to theirtheatrical releases.

"We're very pleased and lucky the prizes went our way," ArtificialEye's Robert Beeson said yesterday of the company's Cannes haul. This year'scompetition, he added, was relatively strong. "There were no realduds."

The company (set up in 1976) already has long-standing relationships with boththe Dardennes and Haneke.

Although many other UK distributors regularly handle foreign language fare,Artificial Eye boasts a far more extensive catalogue than most of itscompetitors. The recently announced closure of rival outfit UGC Films UK (whichhad released Francois Ozon's recent work) has further strengthened its positionin the UK art house sector.