Boots Riley was recently asked on X why he chose to premiere I Love Boosters at SXSW rather than Cannes. He acknowledged that Cannes rejected the film, as well as several of his previous works.

Sorry To Bother You, his 2018 dark comedy feature premiered at Sundance where it received the Sundance Institute’s Vanguard Award. Cannes also turned down his comedy series I’m a Virgo.

“Cannes didn’t pick Sorry To Bother You altho they picked other stuff that had been played in their home country. They picked The Idol over I’m A Virgo. They didn’t pick I Love Boosters. They just don’t like my stuff. All good,” Riley wrote on X in response.

I Love Boosters stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Poppy Liu as a crew of boosters (aka professional shoplifters/equal opportunists), who take aim at cutthroat fashion maven Christie Smith (Demi Moore). It’s like community service.

The cast also includes Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, Jason Ritter, Eric André, Alan Z and more.

The film, at 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with a roughly $20M budget, was Neon’s most expensive film it had ever produced. The surreal crime comedy opened wide over this Memorial Day holiday frame.