The Cinema Guild has acquired US rights to Aurora, Romanian auteur Cristi Puiu’s follow-up to his 2005 Un Certain Regard winner The Death Of Mr Lazarescu.

Ryan Krivoshey of The Cinema Guild brokered the deal with Celine Lin of The Coproduction Office and the film will open in theatres in 2011.

The thriller follows a 42-year-old Bucharest divorce and father of two as he prepares to carry out a plan that will bring order to his world.

“Neither slow nor fast, Aurora is an immensely powerful and satisfying film – a thriller stripped to its core – with its own precise rhythm,” Krivoshey said. “It’s an audacious work that deserves to be seen on the big screen. We are delighted to be working with Cristi Puiu on its US release.”

The Cinema Guild distributes independent, foreign-language and documentary films and recently handled Jeff Malmberg’s documentary Marwencol. Upcoming releases include Manoel de Oliveira’s The Strange Case Of Angelica, Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill and Vadim Jendreyko’s The Woman With The Five Elephants.