Q&A WITH UGO BIENVENU
Ugo Bienvenu is a multifaceted artist and his feature debut, the Oscar-nominated Arco, is being hailed as an exciting breakout in the field of animation. It follows a 10-year-old boy from a peaceful, distant future who accidentally time-travels back in time to 2075 and befriends a young, adventurous girl named Iris. The film builds upon Bienvenu’s extensive career as an illustrator and music video director. His work is detailed and heartfelt, two qualities Arco holds in spades.
Arco is now in theaters across the country.
Q. Your film has a wonderfully eclectic visual style. What were some of the visual references that influenced it?
A. I don’t use references when I work. What I will say is that I grew up in Mexico, Guatemala, and Chad. And, I also lived in America. In Mexico and Guatemala, I was impacted by all of the American advertising. Coca-Cola. Marlboro. Advertising was everywhere. And, my colors came from living in Mexico and Chad.
Then, when I was seven, I watched Dragon Ball Z for the first time. It was impactful because it did not look like anything I knew. Also, this is when I began to draw all the time. With Dragon Ball Z, it occurred to me that anything was possible drawing. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to be in a field where everything was possible and nothing was wrong.
European comic books were also really present throughout my life. Since we were always on the move, my parents wanted me to have something French I could depend on. I received French comic book magazines every week. My style mixes all of the world cultures that have been present in my life.
Q. Arco envisions a world contending with natural disasters and poses questions related to climate change to viewers. What motivated your decision to tackle this issue?
A. The movies I liked when I was a kid were the movies that did not lie to me. Those that trusted my intelligence. Peter Pan. Alice in Wonderland. Bambi. Babar. The Sword in the Stone. Those films made me deal with hard questions of death and life. They were confident about the intelligence of children, which is something I think we lack today.
With my film, I wanted to say: “Kids are intelligent. We don’t have to lie to them.” Iris’ world is the world our kids will live in. In fact, we are already living in that world. When I began writing the script, I had the fire scene that’s in the movie and everyone in France told me, “This is a deus ex machina, fires don’t happen like this in the world.” Then, when we were finishing the frames for that scene, the fires in LA happened. They were the same frames. The same images. It was important for me to say, “This is the world we live in.” But also, that we are living in this world because of indifference and our relationship to technology.
If we were to rely on intuitions, feelings, and thoughtfulness, then we could arrive at deeper solutions that would be more profound for our bodies and souls. We could establish a greater sense of humanity in the world. This movie asks: “What makes us human?” and “Is living in the world a part of us too?”
Q. The future depicted in Arco is full of robots, but you avoid reducing these characters to unthinking or unfeeling entities. What interested you about subverting the clichés associated with robots at this moment in time, when worries about AI and automatization have become common around the world?
A. I don’t chat with people when I’m making a movie. I don’t offer my point of view when I make a movie. I ask questions. The audience has to find their own answers. Cinema is about asking questions, not about answering them.
My robot, Mikki, for example, is basically AI. He allows Iris’ parents to provide their kids with the best life possible — in a cool, calm, and peaceful neighborhood — but also breaks the family circle because he allows them not to be present. He’s good and bad. He makes the audience ask, “What is presence?” Mikki shows us both sides of the coin on that topic.
Later, he saves the kids. But, he saves them by imitating nature. Again, I try to find a balance and avoid showing things in black and white terms; instead, I show the entire gray zone. Mikki forces us to ask, “What makes us human?” Science fiction is great for that. It asks, “What are we today?” “What can we become?” And, “What do you want to do with that?”
Q. What’s the last book you read and loved?
A. A French book called Le voyage dans le temps.
Q. Is it important for you to have a creative routine, or do you prefer spontaneity?
A. It’s important to have a strong routine in order to have spontaneity.
Q. What have you been listening to lately?
A. LUX by Rosalía and the score for The Theory of Everything. Also, I don’t like to say this, but I love the score for my movie and I listen to it a lot.
Q. Who, or what, do you think is the future of filmmaking?
A. The people in my studio.
Q. What image would you like to end this interview with?
