29/05/2002 - Cannes Grand Jury prize winner, The Man Without A Past, has been snapped up by Sony Pictures Classics for the US

According to news wire sources, Sony Pictures Classics picked up The Man Without A Past in the closing stages of the festival. Meanwhile in Finland, Kaurismaki´s movie has jumped from 9th to 3rd place in the local box-office chart. The film was released by UIP on March 1, but despite rave reviews and the first ever TV-spot for a Kaurismaki film, it only attracted 43,898 admissions until its Cannes prize. Now local audiences are flocking to see the film and the high level of interest might make the veteran director's latest effort his most successful. Kaurismaki's most popular title so far was his last Cannes contender Drifting Clouds in 1996, which reached 60,000 admissions domestically. The director has always been more successful abroad than in Finland, and Bavaria International sold it to a number of territories during the festival.

(Translated from French)