Francis Ford Coppola has confirmed that he has declined an invitation to screen his Argentina-set family drama Tetro out of competition in Cannes.

“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,” Coppola said in a statement released late last week.

“More important than Cannes, our team can focus all our time, energy and resources into the US release this June 11th.”

Zoetrope is handling the North American launch of the film, which stars Vincent Gallo and Maribel Verdu in the story of a family of Italian immigrants in Argentina.

Coppola will present Tetro at the 35th Seattle International Film Festival on June 10.

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