Haut Et Court, the French production company behind competition film Tiresia and anticipated Un Certain Regard picture Who Killed Bambi, has cast Swimming Pool-star Charlotte Rampling in the new psychological drama by hot shot Laurent Cantet.

The film, Heading South (Vers Le Sud) is an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Haitian writer Dany Laferriere and sees three middle-aged women travel abroad in order to forget their amorous disappointments. They fall in love with the same man, who then dies in mysterious circumstances.

"There are three great women's roles in a film directed by an extraordinary man," said Caroline Benjo, co-head of Haut Et Court with Carole Scotta. "This is not a film about sexual tourism, but rather one about how love emerges in odd places."

Celluloid Dreams, which added Heading South to its Cannes slate, but had not begun actively selling it, says it has received an unexpectedly strong early interest from distributors. "This just shows how few talents are genuinely pre-sellable these days," said Benjo. Cantet previously directed Human Resources (Ressources Humaines) and Time Out (L'Emploi Du Temps).

The film is co-written by Cantet and Robin Campillo, whose first film as director is also set-up at Haut Et Court. They Came Back (Les Revenants), a genre love story where the dead come back and take up places in society.