Lee was joined in the Cannes press conference by Wright and Ilfenesh Hadera, who plays King’s poised and skeptical wife Pam. Highest 2 Lowest marks Lee’s first collaboration with one-time muse Washington since 2006’s Inside Man.

Denzel Washington gives his most commanding screen performance in ages as a music tycoon who thinks his son has been kidnapped.

Denzel Washington, Spike Lee and A$AP Rocky brought NYC to Cannes with the premiere of Spike Lee's neo-noir crime thriller "Highest 2 Lowest."

Lee's "re-imagining" of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller 'High and Low' also stars Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Wendell Pierce and rappers ASAP Rocky and Ice Spice.

Denzel Washington sandwiched a whirlwind trip to the Cannes Film Festival in between Broadway performances for the premiere of Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” and was rewarded with a surprise honorary Palme d'Or.

Director Spike Lee, from left, Ilfenesh Hadera and Denzel Washington pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Highest 2 Lowest' at the 78th international film festival, Cannes,

The reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s masterful 1963 police procedural about an abduction and ransom plot also stars Jeffrey Wright and A$AP Rocky.

Berman has long supported visionary storytellers with something personal to say. His credits range from Sundance favorites like “Nine Days” with Winston Duke to high-profile studio titles such as Ben Affleck’s “Air.” Many of his projects have featured first-time directors and underrepresented voices.