The Congress (Hebrew: כנס העתידנים) is a 2013 French-Israeli live action/animation film by Ari Folman The film premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 15.[2] Independent film distributor Drafthouse Films announced, along with Films We Like In Toronto, their co-acquisition of the North American rights to the film and a US theatrical and VOD/digital release planned for 2014.[3]
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn’t consider.
According to director Folman, some elements of the film were inspired by the science fiction novel Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem in that similarly to Lem’s Ijon Tichy, the actress is split between delusional and real mental states.[5]
A Franco-German-Belgian-Polish production, the animation was done by a French animation house with principal live action filming in the United States from February to March 2011.[4][6] Folman began working on the film in 2008,[7] securing additional financing in 2011 from French bank Coficine-Natixis.[8] The film was completed and released in 2013.[2]
