Andy Garcia’s 20-Year Noir ‘Diamond’ Premieres at Cannes

Cuban-born Hollywood actor Andy Garcia’s passion project, “Diamond,” screened at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. The film was first conceived by Garcia while helping his daughter with a school assignment.

Directed and starring in “Diamond,” Garcia follows private detective Joe Diamond, hired to investigate the murder of a wealthy businessman by femme fatale widow Sharon Cobbs, played by Vicky Krieps. US actors Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman also have roles as side characters.

The 70-year-old writer-director-producer was thrilled when he learned his film would screen out of competition at the festival. Garcia told Reuters, “It’s the greatest gift in the world to celebrate your child’s achievement.”

Known for roles in “The Godfather: Part III” and “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Garcia has built a decades-long career in Hollywood both on and behind the camera.

“Diamond” is his second fictional feature as director after 2005’s “The Lost City,” set in pre-communist Cuba. Although “Diamond” is set in modern-day Los Angeles, the detective and others around him are dressed as if they are from the past.

The concept for “Diamond” dates back 20 years to when Garcia helped his daughter with a noir short story assignment that she got stuck on. He improvised this character and scenes, recalling he kept going back to it because of the love of the genre and curiosity about ‘Who is this guy? What’s he doing in L.A. dressed up?’