Shia LaBeouf will attend the premiere of documentary Slauson Rec at this year’s Cannes Film Festival
From filmmaker Leo Lewis O’Neil, the film chronicles the theater collective LaBeouf launched in 2018
LaBeouf gave O’Neil his blessing to make the film
Shia LaBeouf is attending the 2025 Cannes Film Festival premiere of a documentary that chronicled a controversial acting school he launched.
This year’s Cannes lineup will include a May premiere of Slauson Rec at which LaBeouf, its subject, and its filmmaker, Leo Lewis O’Neil, will attend, the festival announced on Wednesday, May 7.
In 2018 in Los Angeles, LaBeouf, 38, started the Slauson Recreational Center Theater collective, inviting participants of any acting experience level to join and study for free. As O’Neil’s trailer for Slauson Rec indicates, the school had unconventional training methods; in one glimpse of the footage, the Honey Boy writer-star is seen yelling at students.
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O’Neil, speaking to Vanity Fair for an interview published in April, said that LaBeouf offered his blessing for the documentary to be made with no editorializing.
“I gave Leo this camera and encouraged him to share his vision and his personal experience without edit,” LaBeouf said in a statement to the outlet. “I am aware of the doc and fully support the release of the film. While my teaching methods may be unconventional for some, I am proud of the incredible accomplishments that these kids achieved. Together we turned a drama class into an acting company. I wish only good things for Leo and everyone who was part of The Slauson Rec Company.”
Vanity Fair also reported that the hundreds of hours of footage O’Neil captured for Slauson Rec includes LaBeouf interacting violently with his fellow actors. The doc, per Vanity Fair, shows LaBeouf shoving a student at the collective against a wall, screaming in his face and threateningly whispering in his ear while wrapping his arms around him.
O’Neil said he doesn’t “disagree” that LaBeouf’s leadership was abusive. “It was f—ed-up. Hurt people hurt people, it’s very true — and he’s a very hurt person.”
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Shia LaBeouf in ‘Slauson Rec’
Just before the dissolution of the Slauson Recreational Center Theater collective in 2020, LaBeouf became embroiled in a sexual battery lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, singer FKA Twigs, who accused him of “relentless abuse.” A source told PEOPLE in February 2021 that the Transformers star was taking a break from his screen career “so that he can get the help he needs.”
“I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” LaBeouf told The New York Times at the time. “I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt.”
LaBeouf stars in the movie Salvable, in theaters and on digital now, and Henry Johnson, in theaters May 9.
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