On Monday, American star Natalie Portman, known for her roles in black swan EITHER thorcame to present the animated film at the Lumière festival in Lyon. Bow by the Frenchman Ugo Bienvenu, an ecofuturist fable that she co-produced and to which she provides one of the voices.
Sacred Grand Prix of the Annecy Festival and a propitious time to represent France at the Oscar for best international film, Bow tells the story of a boy of the same name who lives in the distant future in harmony with nature.
A rainbow cape allows him to travel through time. But he loses control of his first flight and falls into another future, closer to us, darkened by repeated climate disasters. There he meets Iris, a little girl the same age as him who will do everything possible so that he can return home.
The film ends with a call to believe in the power of creativity, in the power to change things. “We want to make movies that create a better world for our children and that we can share with our children,” mother of two Natalie Portman explained during a preview on Monday.
Hope
Natalie Portman has already participated in the production of a dozen films, including May December by Todd Haynes, but this is the first time he has supported an animated film. A long process in which he embarked together with Sophie Mas, his partner in the Mountain A production company.
“Five years passed” between the launch of the project and its release in theaters, he emphasizes. This duration, typical of the world of animation, “offers precious time to shape the story,” observes the American, who also lends her voice to Iris’s mother in the English version. “What if we made films that convey hope instead of creating dystopias?” suggests Sophie Mas alongside her.
Drawn in 2D, some see in Ugo Bienvenu’s work a French response to the imagination of Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli. “Ugo lived in Chad, in Mexico, he has a mix of Japanese influences, Dragon Ball Z, Disney, Pixar… he was inspired by different cartoon cultures,” underlines Sophie Mas.
“At this moment in my life”
Natalie Portman was convinced by “the unique artistic talent” of the French director, who described his project to the two producers as “a memory of the future”: “It’s a beautiful way to describe imagination,” she smiles.
The actress, discovered at the age of 14 in Lion by Luc Besson and who has worked with big names in cinema over a thirty-year career (Michael Mann, George Lucas, Mike Nichols, Darren Aronofsky, Todd Haynes…), launched into production “for the love of cinema.”
“And also because it is possible, at this stage of my life, to encourage directors,” he explains. “I wanted to start producing because I like to create films that I want to see released in the world,” he said on Tuesday, during a master class within the framework of the Lumière Festival.
Bow was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, before receiving the top award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June. The film opens on October 22 in French cinemas and on November 14 in the United States.
Source: BFM TV
