Voyage Chromatique: Ugo Bienvenu

A diplomat’s son whose early years were divided between Chad, Guatemala, Mexico, and Paris, Bienvenu, who studied at Gobelins and CalArts, has developed a practice that encompasses short and feature animation, illustration, music videos, commercial work, and graphic novels. In 2018 he would found Remembers, an animation studio, with Félix de Givry, and in 2025 Bienvenu’s first animated feature, Arco, produced under the auspices of Remembers, premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, its titular time-traveling 10-year-old and his misadventures winning a host of admirers young and old. As Arco gears up for awards season, Metrograph will be screening Bienvenu’s vibrant breakthrough work, featuring the voice talents of Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman in its English-language version, alongside a selection of his early works as a director and producer, and a carte blanche program of some of his favorite films.

“When I was 14, I saw Princess Mononoke, and it felt like Miyazaki waved a magic wand, put me under a spell, and said, ‘You’ll do animation.’ I studied animation nonstop, started my own company in France at 23, and later founded Remembers with my partner Félix de Givry. Beyond Miyazaki, I’ve chosen three other favorites: Last Year at Marienbad, Casper, and Once Upon a Time in America. These works have shaped me artistically, influenced my sense of color, and fed my love of complex and intuitive characters caught between worlds, memory, and time.” —Ugo Bienvenu

Félix de Givry in person for select screenings.

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