Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna,” starring

Sundance Selects has acquired North American rights to Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna,” starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed.

The deal was announced yesterday at the Toronto Film Festival, where the pic’s been screening.

“Trishna,” produced by Winterbottom and Melissa Parmenter, is an updated version of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” set in modern-day India as societal differences doom the romance between the protagonists. Pinto portrays the eldest daughter of a poor rural family who accepts the invitation of a handsome stranger to work for a fancy tourist hotel owned by his benevolent father.

Foreign rights have already been sold to A Film (Benelux), Madman (Australia and New Zealand), Bac Films (France), Shooting Stars (Middle East), and Video Vision (South Africa).

The deal for “Trishna” was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects with Stephen Kelliher, Head of Sales & Acquisitions for Bankside Films, on behalf of the filmmakers.

Sundance Selects is a sister division to IFC Films and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks.