EXCLUSIVE: Here is first footage of Cannes Film Festival-bound documentary Cantona, about soccer great turned actor Eric Cantona.

In the clip, Cantona and legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson touch on their relationship. Cantona admits he was “well protected” by the Scot, and that the players would “give their lives for him”.

The Cannes Special Screening, one of only three UK films in the festival’s official selection, is directed and produced by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas (Pelé, El Caso Figo), written and produced by Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon, Listen to Me Marlon), and features an original electronic score by dance music vet Paul Hartnoll of Orbital. Cinetic handles sales.

The synopsis reads: “The most gifted footballer of his generation was finished. Retired in disgrace at 25, he appeared destined for permanent exile from the sport he loved. Incapable of blind obedience, Eric Cantona was a libertine who bridled against conformity whenever he felt its grip tighten. The French branded him unmanageable. But the fire that burned in Eric became the spark to ignite a dynasty at Manchester United.”

It continues: “Cantona reveals how legendary manager Alex Ferguson channelled the brilliance of this most captivating and unpredictable of athletes. A tale of friendship and fatherhood, Cantona and Ferguson’s testimonies reveal how a man misread as hostile and unknowable was finally understood, loved, and forgiven, by the strictest disciplinarian in football.”

The film, which was four years in the making and made between Manchester and the south of France, will feature new and archive interviews with Cantona and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as well as interviews with the footballer’s parents, other managers, David Beckham and more. Pitch Productions (Pelé) and Object Studios (Pistorius) produce.

Cantona is known as one of Manchester United and the Premier League’s most important and magnetic figures. The French international played for multiple clubs in France before transferring to Leeds (where he won the league) and then Manchester United where he won four league titles in five years, including two league and FA Cup doubles. Known by Manchester United fans as ‘King Eric’, the talismanic and mercurial character was also known for his temper and in 1995 he was convicted of assault of an abusive spectator, which led to an eight-month suspension from football.

After a surprise retirement from soccer aged 31, Cantona segued to a career in acting with roles in films including Elizabeth, Looking For Eric, and The Killer. At Cannes this year he will also star in drama Les Matins Merveilleux.