French filmmaker and illustrator Ugo Bienvenu is gaining global attention as his debut animated feature “Arco” continues its remarkable awards-season momentum. After winning the top honor at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and receiving widespread praise from critics, the film now appears to be a strong contender in the Academy Awards race.
The dreamy, hopeful adventure — financed in part by Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman — has positioned Bienvenu as a breakout voice in contemporary animation. Yet the 38-year-old director admits the whirlwind of acclaim feels surreal.
“Awards are both blessings and curses,” Bienvenu told AFP during a promotional trip in Los Angeles. “They create pressure for the future. My craft is to make things, and to make things, you have to be light, at ease enough to imagine.”
A Vision of Hope and Environmental Urgency
“Arco” tells the story of an extraordinary friendship between two children separated by radically different futures for humanity. The titular character, Arco, comes from an idyllic distant world where humans live harmoniously in the clouds to allow Earth to recover. Eager to see dinosaurs, he travels through time but lands in 2075, where he meets Iris, a young girl navigating climate catastrophe and a fractured family reliant on hologram parenting and robotic caretakers.
Together, the pair undertakes a mission that may help restore hope for humanity.
Bienvenu says the film’s message is simple: “Don’t lie to children.”
He hopes the film encourages honesty about climate realities — heat waves, mega-fires and environmental collapse — while offering a sense of agency and optimism.
“This is the world you are living in…but that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless.”
A Miyazaki-Style Spirit Without a Villain
Produced fully in 2D animation and accompanied by a poetic musical score, Arco has drawn flattering comparisons to the work of Hayao Miyazaki. However, the film’s lack of a traditional villain initially made financing difficult.
“There is a huge antagonist — the system in which we live,” Bienvenu said.
To secure backing, he invested his own savings to create a black-and-white animatic, which ultimately convinced Portman and Sophie Mas’s production company Mountain A to join the project.
Portman explained her support simply:
“I wanted to make films that create a better world for our children.”
A Turning Point for French Animation
Made in Paris with a modest €9 million budget, Arco represents a major creative gamble. Bienvenu hopes the film’s success inspires greater ambition in France’s animation sector.
“If we do things in a sincere way, people are moved,” he said.
The filmmaker, now a father of two, says personal transformation pushed him to embrace optimism over the darker tones of his past work.
“I wanted to give the world a hug. I wanted to create light rather than darkness.”
Oscar Path Ahead
The Oscar nominations will be announced January 22, with the ceremony scheduled for March 15. If selected, Arco would become one of France’s most significant animated contenders in years.
