Canadian director Leah Nelson’s feature animation Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me got a heartfelt and enthusiastic seven-minute ovation at its premiere in Cannes in a packed Special Screening on Thursday evening.
Nelson was accompanied by voice cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Rogen, Abbi Jacobson and Samira Wiley as well producers Lauren Miller Rogen and Vicky Patel and Sarah Leavitt, whose real-life graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me is the inspiration for the animated feature.
The film retells Leavitt’s story as she puts her life as an activist and artist in 1990s San Francisco on hold and returns to her small hometown to spend time with her feisty beloved mother as Alzheimer’s begins to erase her mind and vibrant personality. The bittersweet tale infused with humor and sadness chimed with the Cannes audience.
It was an emotional night for Leavitt, Nelson, Miller Rogen and Patel who have all been personally affected by the disease through afflicted family members at different points in their lives.
“Thank you so much to all of these incredible people and thank you for being here and coming through that story with us,” said an emotional Leavitt as the applause died down.
Miller Rogen, whose late mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at just 55 years old, did not take the mike but was visibly moved as the lights came-up.
She and husband Seth Rogen founded Hilarity for Charity in 2012, a nonprofit that cares for families impacted by Alzheimer’s while Patel, who heads up Monarch Media with Steve Barnett and Alan Powell, became one of the nation’s leading fundraisers for brain science research after her late father was diagnosed with the disease.
Charades is handling international rights with CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group handling domestic. The film heads next to the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.
