Andy Garcia has premiered his new film Diamond at the Cannes Film Festival after a 20-year journey to get it made.

The film, written and directed by Garcia, is a crime story set in Los Angeles. He also stars as Joe Diamond, a private detective who solves difficult cases. The film features a large cast, including Brendan Fraser, Bill Murray, Dustin Hoffman, and Danny Huston.

The 70-year-old actor and director said the idea for the film came about 20 years ago when he helped his daughter with a school homework task in which she had to write a short crime story.

Garcia said this inspired him to create his own story. He first tried to develop it into a TV series. “I started to pitch an idea about doing a series to HBO and other networks," Garcia told The Mirror and other news outlets on Wednesday.

He admitted he pitched it to several networks, but it was not accepted. "They all said it’s very interesting, but it wasn’t written, so I just challenged myself and started writing”. 

He later wrote a full script. “I had 60 pages for a television pilot, but nobody bought it," he recalled. "15 years went by trying to sell it. No one ever supported the film. I was never able to sell it traditionally to a studio or streamer”.

After many years, Garcia decided to finance the film himself and later submitted it to Cannes after completing it. “We financed it completely independently and then sent it to Thierry and said we hope you like it".

He said the festival accepted the film, which made him very happy after years of rejection. "We got a call back. They said we love your movie and we’d like to have you here,” the 70-year-old concluded.

Garcia said this is his third time directing a film. He has previously directed documentaries and films, including The Lost City. He also said he is working on another project about writer Ernest Hemingway and Cuban boat captain Gregorio Fuentes.