Earlier this month, we wrote that it would be surprising to see a distribution announcement for Ugo Bienvenu’s buzzy 2d feature Arco out of Cannes, where the French film debuted out of competition.
That’s exactly what happened and the North American distributor has turned out to be indie powerhouse Neon, which won the best picture Oscar earlier this year for Anora. Neon is not a frequent animation distributor, but its last two animated titles — Robot Dreams and Flee — were both been nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars. Flee was additionally nominated for international feature and documentary feature.
Neon’s acquisition makes it very clear that Arco is being viewed as a year-end awards contender. The film stands a strong chance too considering the extremely limited output from the major American studios this year.
The fantasy/sci-fi film Arco is set in the year 2075, and follow a lost time-traveling boy in a rainbow-suit from the year 2932 who befriends a 10-year-old girl. The film is backed by Natalie Portman, who has not only joined the film’s English voice cast but is also producing under her banner MountainA, alongside company co-founder Sophie Mas and Remembers’ Félix de Givry.
Besides Portman, the English-language voice cast has yet to be revealed, but we expect it to be star-studded. The 82-minute film will next screen in competition at Annecy next month.
Some of the first footage from the film can be seen in this teaser:
To learn more about the film, watch this interview with director Ugo Bienvenu at Cannes:
The news of Arco’ acquisition by Neon was first reported by Deadline.
