Cinetic Boards Cannes Doc ‘Cantona’ on Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona’s next big stage won’t be a stadium or a film set — it will be Cannes.

Cinetic will handle sales on Cantona, a new documentary about the soccer great turned actor, as the film heads to the Cannes Film Festival for a Special Screening. Reports indicate the project stands out in the festival lineup: it is one of only three UK films in the official selection, a marker that gives the documentary immediate prestige and a strong launchpad in the global market.

The film arrives with an experienced creative team behind it. David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, whose credits include Pelé and El Caso Figo, direct and produce, while Stevan Riley, known for Fire in Babylon and Listen, writes and produces. That combination signals a film built not just around fame, but around the larger story of a figure who moved from elite sport into screen acting and public mythology.

Cannes gives Cantona more than a premiere — it gives the film a global platform at the exact moment buyers start looking for standout nonfiction titles.

The package makes strategic sense. Cantona remains one of soccer’s most recognizable personalities, and his career beyond the pitch gives the documentary a wider cultural reach than a standard sports portrait. Sources suggest the film will appeal to both football audiences and arthouse buyers drawn to Cannes-backed nonfiction with a built-in international subject.

What happens next matters far beyond a single festival slot. Cannes can turn a documentary into an acquisition target overnight, and Cinetic now holds the job of translating festival attention into worldwide deals. If Cantona connects with buyers and audiences, it could become one of the rare sports documentaries that travels across fan bases, film circles, and international markets at once.