[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez, photo by Brian Brooks]

The closest thing to a real nail-biter bidding war among U.S. based buyers here in Cannes is the battle for Michael Haneke's "Cache" the Cannes competition entry that first screened a week ago. One insider told indieWIRE that some half-dozen offers are in as companies wait to see who the winner will be.

What's especially unique about this rights fight is that it is being waged by the real indie companies, studio specialty divisions are understood to be sitting this one out, concerned that the film is just too small. So some of the companies understood to have offers on the table are IFC Films, Samuel Goldwyn, ThinkFilm, Wellspring, and others.

The film is the story of a French family (Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, and Lester Makedonsky) terrorized by a stalker who delivers secretly shot video tapes and bloody caricature drawings that become increasing personal, ultimately leading to the revelation of secrets from the past. Considered one of the few front-runners for the Palme d'Or (at least among journalists and critics), the film marks the eights time in Cannes for Haneke and his fourth trip in competition. At the film's press conference last week, Haneke talked about his new movie.

If the awards buzz for this film continues and/or the it wins a top prize on Satuday, ahead of a deal, it will be interesting to see if one of the larger companies gets in on the action.