Despite an invitation from the Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola has decided not to debut his new film, “Tetro” at the Croisette.
In what could be perceived as a minor slight, Cannes only accepted the film in the non-competition field, so Coppola opted out. Via a press release (posted at Indiewire):
“While I very much appreciate the invitation, this is an independent film, self-financed and self released, and I felt that being invited for a non-competition gala screening wasn’t true to the personal and independent nature of this film. More important than Cannes, our team can focus all our time, energy and resources into the U.S. release this June 11th.”
Hollywood Elsewhere tends to think this is just a possible euphemism for, “If we take our [small, independent] film to Cannes we’ll get killed by the critics and the word will go out everywhere so why do it? We can only lose.” Instead, the film will now premiere at the Seattle Film Festival on June 10th at a screening that will be attended by Coppola himself and the film’s star Vincent Gallo. Coppola’s last effort “Youth Without Youth” completely skipped the festival circuit and still sold for $10 million.
Contrary to previous reports, the film was not entirely shot in black in white and according to Coppola’s original Vlog introduction of the film, the flashbacks…show the past of the protagonist were filmed in a sort of ”washed-out-color, like the color in home movies.”
“I think that the combination of wide screen and a very contrasted and classic black and white style with occasional burst of color give the film added impact.” So yeah, we will see some color in there. “Tetro” hits theaters in limited release on June 11. A reader reminds us that Coppola will also be in attendance at the San Francisco Int’l Film Festival on May 1, with the “Tetro” trailer, and in conversation on stage.