Premiere - Arco: When Club Allociné Turned Max Linder Panorama into a Rainbow of Emotion

By Mulder, Paris, Max Linder Panorama, 09 october 2025

There are evenings when cinema reminds us that art can still feel like a quiet revelation, and the private Club Allociné screening of Arco at the Max Linder Panorama in Paris was one of them. On October 9, 2025, the iconic single-screen theater became a meeting point between imagination and reflection. After the screening, a warm Q&A brought together Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas, and Natalie Portman, whose production company Mountain A helped bring this singular animated vision to life. The event, intimate yet charged with admiration, was attended by a crowd of cinephiles and animation lovers who sensed they were witnessing something special—a film that carries the emotional density of poetry disguised as science fiction.

Premiering earlier in the year at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the “Special Screenings” section, Arco quickly emerged as one of the most acclaimed animated films of the decade. Directed by Ugo Bienvenu and co-written with Félix de Givry, it has already garnered the Cristal for Best Feature at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, and the Golden Stork at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. Yet its triumph is not just one of awards, but of resonance. Arco is more than an animated feature—it is a philosophical fable about memory, hope, and transmission, themes that have shaped Ugo Bienvenu’s graphic novels and short films. At its heart lies a vision of the future that is less about technology’s perfection than about the human need to reconnect.

Set in the year 2075, Arco follows Iris, a ten-year-old girl who lives within an enclosed, artificial world where nature has been replaced by holograms and robotics. Her encounter with Arco—a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit who falls from the sky and claims to come from the year 2932—marks the beginning of a profound friendship. Arco’s world, where science and ecology coexist harmoniously, becomes a mirror for what Iris’s own has lost: the simple, essential link between human beings and their environment. The story unfolds as an allegory of awakening, suggesting that progress without empathy is no progress at all. Through the innocent curiosity of its two young protagonists, the film speaks to a generation raised in digital isolation, inviting them to rediscover the world with wonder rather than through screens.

What makes Arco immediately distinctive is its visual texture. Refusing to surrender to the sterile polish of CGI, Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry decided to animate the film entirely in 2D within their Paris-based studio, Remembers. Every frame bears the human hand’s imperfection—vibrant, tactile, alive. Characters were first modeled in 3D only for compositional grounding, then redrawn frame by frame to restore the irregular beauty that defines traditional animation. The result is nothing short of luminous. Light itself becomes a language: a storyteller that bridges past and future, darkness and color. The cave sequence, one of the film’s most memorable moments, directly evokes the origins of human art—the first drawings illuminated by fire—reminding us that creativity has always been our most enduring form of survival.

At the Q&A, Ugo Bienvenu described the rainbow motif that runs throughout the film as “a pop element of nature,” something universal and hopeful. Arco, the rainbow child, represents the union between knowledge and innocence, between technological precision and spiritual grace. His world is not utopia but continuity—a vision of progress that harmonizes rather than replaces. “All great ideas start from a small drawing,” Ugo Bienvenu remarked with a smile, summarizing his philosophy in a single line. That phrase could stand as the film’s thesis: that imagination, not machinery, is the true source of evolution. The rainbow, after all, is not an invention—it’s nature’s own bridge between light and rain.

Beyond its emotional clarity, Arco carries a strong ecological consciousness. One sequence, where Iris’s city is engulfed in flames, echoes the increasing climate disasters of our era. “That’s not tomorrow,” Ugo Bienvenu told the audience, “that’s today.” Yet he never preaches. The film’s environmental message emerges not through didacticism but through tenderness—a gesture, a look, a child’s question left hanging in silence. Its companion educational guide, written by Jean-Charles Malbec, further deepens its reach, designed to help teachers introduce discussions about climate, ecosystems, and ethical technology. In that sense, Arco is not only a film but a pedagogical tool—a work of art that educates by wonder rather than by warning.

The story behind the film’s creation is just as inspiring. Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry met while working on Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden, a collaboration that sparked both friendship and a shared belief in independent artistry. In 2018, they founded their own studio, Remembers, determined to preserve creative control. Instead of chasing large-scale financing or outsourcing production abroad, they chose the harder path: to make everything by hand, in Paris. Their persistence eventually drew the attention of Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas, whose company Mountain A joined as producers. Their involvement was not about glamour but conviction—they saw in Arco the rare opportunity to support an animated project that defied industrial norms. The partnership became a testament to what cinema can still achieve when driven by faith rather than formula.

The voice cast adds yet another layer of artistry. Swann Arlaud, Alma Jodorowsky, Louis Garrel, Vincent Macaigne, and Oxmo Puccino infuse the film with a distinctly French musicality, their voices shaping characters that feel fragile and wise at once. The editing by Nathan Jacquard and the music by Arnaud Toulon further contribute to this atmosphere of delicate balance, where every silence feels as expressive as every note. Distributed by Diaphana Distribution in France and NEON in the United States, Arco will finally open in theaters on October 22 in France and November 14 across the Atlantic.

By the end of the Paris screening, the audience lingered long after the credits faded, as if reluctant to return to the present. Arco leaves that kind of trace—the quiet conviction that beauty and meaning still have a place in cinema. Ugo Bienvenu and Félix de Givry have crafted not only a visual masterpiece but a reminder: that technology can only move us forward if we remember where we came from. Their film is a hymn to childhood, imagination, and coexistence. In a cultural landscape often obsessed with noise, Arco dares to whisper. And in that whisper, there’s light—the kind that stays with you, like the last shimmer of a rainbow after the storm.

You can discover our photos in our Flickr page

Synopsis : 
In 2075, a 10-year-old girl named Iris sees a mysterious boy dressed in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. His name is Arco. He comes from a distant, idyllic future where time travel is possible. Iris takes him in and does everything she can to help him return home.

Arco
Directed by Ugo Bienvenu
Written by Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry
Produced by Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry  Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman
Starring  Swann Arlaud, Alma Jodorowsky, Margot Ringard Oldra, Oscar Tresanini, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, William Lebghil, Oxmo Puccino
Cinematography : 
Edited by Nathan Jacquard 
Music by Arnaud Toulon
Production companies :, Remembers, Mountain A 
Distributed by Diaphana Distribution (France), NEON (United States)
Release dates :  October 22, 2025 (France), November 14, 2025 (United States)
Running time : 82 minutes

Photos & video : Boris Colletier / Mulderville