From the LAT's entertainment reporter John Horn in Cannes: "Che," an epic drama about the Cuban revolutionary, and "Baby on Board," a low-budget sex comedy, have scarcely anything in common except actors speaking lines in movies projected on a big screen. But both have come to the French Riviera with the same goal: finding distribution in an increasingly unreceptive market.

The Cannes Film Festival is filled with glamorous premieres and indulgent parties but also is a market for independently financed movies looking for a theatrical release. The scores of new works being sold here face times tougher than several Cannes veterans can recall.

Not that long ago, the sellers of movies made outside the studio system knew that not only were there nearly a dozen forceful buyers competing for movies, but also that those distributors often were willing to roll the dice on less conventional fare. That's all changed in a hurry.