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'Palme d'Or whisperer': Tiny US distributor Neon wins fifth straight Cannes prize

Neon, a New York-based indie movie outfit, has been dubbed "the Palme d'Or whisperer", for a track record that turns the world's most powerful movie producers green with envy.

Representative Image. / iStock photo

A tiny movie distributor founded seven years ago has won at the Cannes Film Festival for a stunning fifth consecutive time on May.25.

Neon, a New York-based indie movie outfit, has been dubbed "the Palme d'Or whisperer", for a track record that turns the world's most powerful movie producers green with envy.

"Parasite", "Titane", "Triangle of Sadness" and "Anatomy of a Fall" - the last four winners in Cannes - were all released in US theatres by Neon, under deals struck before they won the prize.

And they did it again on May.25 with "Anora", US indie director Sean Baker's raw and often-hilarious story about a New York erotic dancer who strikes gold with a wealthy client.

"Palme d'Or X five. Merci, Cannes," the company posted on social media, adding a photo of five-time NBA basketball champion Kobe Bryant.

Neon purchases - and more recently, has produced - movies that it then distributes to theatres, as well as running marketing and awards campaigns for the films.

It bought North American rights to "Anora" weeks before Cannes kicked off, in a move that will now only accelerate the company's soothsaying reputation.

Last week, just days after its director secretly escaped from Iran, Neon also snapped up "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", which won a special jury prize on May.25.

That film - about a family's struggles amid political unrest in Tehran - was made by Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled an Iranian prison sentence for "collusion against national security" days before Cannes kicked off.

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