CANNES, France (AP) — Jim Jarmusch has debuted his distinctive bus driver-poet drama "Paterson" at the Cannes Film Festival.

Festival goers responded enthusiastically Monday to the gentle rhythms of the film, which is competing for the Palme d'Or.

In the movie, Adam Driver plays a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey, who writes poetry inspired by conversations he overhears. The film, too, has a rhyming, internal tempo, full of everyday repetitions and is populated by twins in the background.

Jarmusch acknowledged even he struggles to describe the film's combination of working-class and creative life, inspired partly by the Paterson poet and doctor William Carlos Williams. Jarmusch said "Paterson" is about "quiet people who make a choice to live the way they choose."

Jarmusch will also debut his Iggy Pop documentary "Gimme Danger" at Cannes.