Arco, Produced by Natalie Portman Premiered in Cannes
Ugo Bienvenu, director of many videos and short films, and also author and comic book illustrator, makes his debut in the Official Selection with his first animation feature film presented at a Special Screening. Arco is the oh-so-delightful story of a little boy from the future bringing a message of hope for humanity. Produced by and starring Natalie Portman, the film created some buzz in Cannes however, if we may say so, the tickets weren’t such hot commodity on the ticketing platform.
Ugo Bienvenu is an artist with many talents, who has had an admirable career: from attending the most prestigious animation schools in the world (Estienne, Gobelins Paris, the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, then the Paris School of Decorative Arts), to directing several videos and short films, as well as a miniseries for Marvel and Disney (Marvel’s Ant-Man), in addition to producing about ten comic books.
In this animation film, he presents an optimistic and colorful story, much like the rainbow suit of his young protagonist, Arco. Having fallen from the sky, this young boy actually comes from an idyllic, distant future where time travel is possible. Mistakenly sent to the year 2075 — as a kind of ahead-of-time caricature from our current era — he meets Iris, a little 10-year-old girl. She welcomes him and helps him get back home. In return, Arco tells her about a bright future.
“Arco is a metaphor for the best thing that could happen.”
– Ugo Bienvenu
Featuring the voices of Swann Arlaud, Alma Jodorowsky, Margot Ringard Oldra, Oscar Tresanini, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, William Lebghil and Oxmo Puccino, Arco is described by the filmmaker himself as “A big hug, a beautiful story to give us a renewed spirit, a breath of fresh air [because] more than ever, I think that we need hope and tenderness.”
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
