Andy Garcia’s long-gestating passion project “Diamond” earned a warm seven-minute long standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, bringing a dose of old-school Hollywood glamour to the Croisette with a sprawling ensemble cast led by Vicky Krieps and Rosemarie DeWitt, who were on hand for the premiere.
Garcia was visibly moved as he grabbed the mic and said, “The greatest reward that anyone could have as a director is to have colleagues like Dustin and Bill, and Yul Vazquez, and LaTanya Richardson, and Brendan Fraser, and Demián Bichir, and Rachel Ticotin. They come and bless your movie. That is one’s greatest reward, when people you admire, you look up to, you’re inspired by, trust you, and want to play in your world for a little bit. And without their support and without their inspiration, this would not be the film that it is.”
Garcia was shedding a few tears as he concluded, “It’s such an extraordinary privilege. As some of you might know, this has been a 20-year journey. And I couldn’t think of a more sacred place than to be here — the place where film noir was first coined — to share this very personal journey with the festival community. We all grow up with a dream, I can tell you that. And to share with young people out there who have dreams: there’s no great obstacle that can’t be overcome by a dream. So follow your dream. Keep falling forward. As my father would always say, never take a step backward — not even to gain momentum.”
