At first glance, the passion for Matteo Garrone‘s Reality appeared to be somewhat minimal. Our review, out of the handful of others I looked through, seemed to the most positive, with a good deal of other journalists saying that, however finely-made, the film had trouble taking off in the shadow of Garrone‘s grittily excellent Gomorrah.

Since those initial whispers, however, the film’s momentum has really taken off. When the festival’s awards were handed out on Sunday, Garrone joined the Palme d’Or-winning Michael Haneke (Amour) as the festival’s other back-to-back winner this year — Reality, like the 2008 Gomorrah before it, took home the Grand Prix. And today brings the news that Oscilloscope Laboratories has bought the rights to the film, with plans to run the festival circuit this fall in anticipation of a likely 2013 theatrical release. [Variety]

Sadly, Oscilloscope founder — and, more famously, Beastie Boys performer — Adam Yauch passed away this year, but there’s no denying the admirable image he created for Oscilloscope during his time there. Uncompromising purchases like Oren Moverman‘s fiery debut The Messenger, Kelly Reichardt‘s Meek’s Cutoff, and Lynne Ramsay‘s We Need to Talk About Kevin paved the framework for a distribution company with an eye for challenging, provocative art-house talent. Here’s hoping Reality ends up fitting nicely within that landscape.

Do you think Oscilloscope makes a good match for Reality?