Neon has acquired North American rights to Robot Dreams, the first animated feature from Spanish filmmaker Pablo Berger (Blancanieves), which is poised to premiere in the Special Screenings section of the Cannes Film Festival this Saturday, May 20th.
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The acquisition, which is the first North American deal announced for a Cannes festival movie this edition, comes on the heels of Neon‘s past triumphs at Cannes with three consecutive Palme d’Or winners: Parasite, Titane and Triangle of Sadness.
Based on the award-winning graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon, Robot Dreams follows DOG, who lives in Manhattan and one day, tired of being alone, decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of ’80s NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again?
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Berger produced the film alongside Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia Diaz and Ángel Durández, with Jérôme Vidal, Sylvie Pialat and Benoit Quainon co-producing. The deal was negotiated by Sarah Colvin on behalf of Neon, with Elle Driver co-founder Adeline Fontan Tessaur, who is repping worldwide sales in Cannes.
Remarked Tessaur, “I could not be more proud to have this genius rock-and-roll team on board to distribute this absolute wonder. We know that Neon will know how to get this film that overflows with emotion to the largest possible audience.”
Neon is at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to premiere Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera starring Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini. Other notable recent titles from the company include the Academy Award-nominated documentaries All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Fire of Love, Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool and the horror pic It Lives Inside, produced with QC Entertainment, which is coming off a Midnighters Audience Award win at SXSW.