France's IDDistribution and Scalpel Films have announced a strategic alliance for 2006, movingtowards co-production alongside French distribution activities andinternational sales.

Led by Isabelle Dubar and former Celluloid head of sales Pierre Menahem respectively, ID and Scalpel have picked up Israelidirector Eytan Fox's upcoming The Bubble as their first joint title. ID previously handled Fox's Walk On Waterin France; The Bubbleis currently in post-production.

ID and Scalpel'salliance will come into effect at Rotterdam and Berlin, when Dubarand Menahem will be looking for internationalprojects at script stage. They will work together on the co-production andacquisition side of the business.

Set up in 1998 by Dubar, ID is one of the leading French independentdistributors, with Brent Hamer's Factotum, The Tango Lesson, Happiness, andPrivate amongst its recent releases.Scalpel, meanwhile, was set up in 2004 by Menahem,handling international sales on titles including the recent documentary Toro Negro and Icelandic gay comedy Eleven Men Out, both Toronto world premieres. Another upcoming titleis InMemory Of Me by SaverioCostanzo.

Scalpel will now belocated at ID Distribution's Paris office.