In an announcement tonight touting their deal for John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus," ThinkFilm is calling the competition for the movie, "one of the most competitive and far-ranging bidding wars in recent independent film history." Sounds about right to me.

Its safe to say that many U.S. buyers went to Cannes unsure what to make of the movie, particulary given that nearly everyone passed on the project at the script stage. Immediately after the world premiere, numerous began courting the "Shortbus" team, who had considered releasing the movie themselves. Its hard to think of a recent film that garnered so much interest from such a wide range of buyers. And, in a tribute to JCM and the whole "Shortbus" team, its hard to think of a more distinctive, refreshing, unique, and quality indie film to come along in quite some time.