Natalie Portman, Ugo Bienvenue Talk ‘Arco’

Few films end with a line that is also a mission statement, reflecting both the themes of the story and the intentions of the creators. “Arco” ticks all the boxes as reflected in his last words: “I wish things would change.”

“Art and activism come from the same place,” says the producer. Natalie Portmanto quote Ava DuVernay. “Both represent a reality beyond the one in which we live. That's very present in this film, which creates something beautiful while simultaneously imagining a future brighter than the one we see today.”

Produced by MountainA, which is run by Portman and her partner. Sophie Mas – and “Remembers” under the direction of the director Hugo Welcome and his creative collaborator Felix de Givry “Arco” paved a remarkable path. The film premiered in Cannes and was purchased by Neonwon the top prize at Annecy, received three European Film Award nominations and continues to be screened at festivals, including Marrakeshand there is an active competition for awards.

“A lot of science fiction is about wanting things to stay the same and projecting the world of today into the future,” says Bienvenu. “We may be one of the first generations in a long time that really wants to go in a different direction. We're trying to find new paths because the ones we imagined before aren't very nice.”

An acclaimed animator and comic book artist who designed the poster for the Annecy Animation Festival several years before he won the top prize, Bienvenu began work on his feature debut with a single idea: to imagine a utopian future shaped by the memories of the past. From this spark, a science fiction story was born: the story of a boy from the year 2932 who travels across a rainbow in time and forms an unlikely bond with a lonely young girl in the year 2075.

“It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard,” Portman adds. “I was amazed by the idea and the way he described imagination. It's incredibly exciting to create something that feels like it's always been there, as if the future is a memory. That was the moment when Sophie and I looked at each other and said, 'This has to exist.' Whatever it costs, it must exist.”

The project began as a lifeline. During the long, hectic days of quarantine in 2020, Bienvenu turned to creativity as an escape. He imagined a child from a freer and happier future, back in troubled times, and quickly began to draw. He soon brought on his producing partner and co-writer Felix de Givry, best known for his roles in Mia Hansen-Løve's Paradise and Olivier Assayas' Something in the Air.

“Hugo was drawing while I was writing,” recalls de Givry. “We really made the film exist within the company first. We usually share projects with the world much earlier – for financing, development and all that – but this time we stayed in our little studio with Ugo for months, making the film almost in secret, before it even appeared for anyone else.”

The duo broke the rules by focusing their efforts on a 50-minute animatic instead of a traditional script and presentation presentation. As children of the '90s, they brought into the project the influences that shaped them, blending the pop culture DNA of Spielberg, Zemeckis and Miyazaki with the mythos of the storybooks Peter Pan, Pinocchio and The Little Prince. The result seemed both familiar and fresh to their peers.

“When we saw the original animatic, it exuded pure entertainment, full of joy, humor, adventure and extraordinary graphics,” says Portman. “I immediately felt that Hugo's vision would resonate. The story of two kids going on an adventure has the structure of a classic '80s American export, but also carries Hugo's distinctly French and unique sensibility. The hand-drawn 2D animation is breathtaking, and in today's world we crave that human connection.”

Fresh off the Cannes launch of May December, Portman and her MountainA co-founder Sophie Mas discovered Arco at an opportune moment, just as the producing partners, with footholds in both the U.S. and France, were planning the next steps for their nascent company. Shortly after joining the project, they decided to create a Gallic outpost to produce their first animated game through the French ecosystem, while pursuing a more American fanatical approach.

“In the US there is more of a ‘don’t wait’ mentality, whereas in France films often evolve according to the opinions of many stakeholders,” explains Mas. “It was interesting to combine our desire to move quickly with the value of the French ecosystem, which is incredibly rich. We also realized that if we wanted to pursue other projects – either with Remembers or with other French directors – it would create a basis for developing work outside the US.”

Adopting a hybrid model ultimately allowed Bienvenue a level of creative freedom rarely seen in either system.

“Animation in France tends to be very subject-oriented, there is little adventure or science fiction, and it often does not focus on pleasure and fun,” says Bienvenu. “But this film was intended for everyone from the very beginning. In France, people often start thinking small because the budgets are lower than in Hollywood. Our job is to push the boundaries, to show that we can go further and set ourselves higher goals.”

De Givry agrees, noting that the film's unusual production path draws on both approaches. “From my point of view, the film would not have had such a life and such a launch if it had been made solely within the American system,” he says. “French auteur animation allows for the trajectory of international sales, distribution and other support that is needed to launch a project like this. It reinforced our ambitious goal of finishing the film for Cannes 2025 – which is almost a miracle for an animated film – because we knew this film had to exist right now.”

Indeed, the authors imagined two futures: the distant year 2932, in which humanity has finally broken the vicious cycle of environmental damage, and the closer year 2075, which increases the climate instability we already face. However, during the film's relatively brisk production, reality began to catch up with and sometimes exceed de Givry's and Bienvenu's more dire predictions.

At recent screenings in Los Angeles, the team met moviegoers whose lives were upended by wildfires even more devastating than the ones Bienvenue portrays on screen. For the filmmakers, these encounters were both sobering and unexpectedly cathartic, connecting their time-traveling fantasies to the urgency of the present.

For her part, Portman was especially excited to watch the film with two specific audience members. “My kids are eight and 14 and they loved it,” she beams. “It also sparked important conversations between us: why parents aren't around, what the role of technology and caregiving is, and what platforms we might need to heal the Earth. Each question led to new and surprising discussions.”