Living a solitary existence in Manhattan, Dog is tired of being alone, and mail orders a friend he can assemble himself: Robot. Their friendship blooms while exploring all that 1980s New York City has to offer. Capturing the fantastical possibilities of animated storytelling, director Pablo Berger (Blancanieves) balances the loveable duo’s quirky antics, such as roller skating in Central Park to the classic tunes of Earth, Wind & Fire, with a hint of melancholic longing.
Dog and Robot’s adventures through an NYC filled with anthropomorphized animals may be a fun-filled lark, but Robot Dreams is more than a city symphony devoted to friendship, as it considers heartbreak and loneliness with an assured depth of feeling. Brimming with the heartfelt experience of love, loss, and friendship, this adaptation of Sara Varon’s acclaimed graphic novel showcases the beauty of 2D animation and the power of dialogue-free cinema in an enchanting, illustrated world. Filled with laughter and tears, Robot Dreams is a delightful, bittersweet journey for all ages.
Bolstered by the resilient spirit of New York City, this is one of the loveliest movies that you will see this year, animated or otherwise.
TheWrap
Community Partner
Spain/France
2023
Panorama
No Dialogue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia, Ibon Cormenzana, Pablo Berger, Angel Durández
Screenwriter
Pablo Berger
ANIM
José Luis Ágreda, Benoît Feroumont, Daniel Fernándes Casas, Patricia Andrades
Editor
Fernando Franco
Original Music
Alfonso de Vilallonga, Yuko Harami
Director
Pablo Berger
Pablo Berger was born in Bilbao, Spain. He’s directed many films, including Torremolinos 73 (2003), Blancanieves (2012), and Abracadabra (2017). Robot Dreams (2023) is his latest film and first animated feature.
Filmography: Torremolinos 73 (2003); Blancanieves (2012); Abracadabra (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
The Sandbox
Borders are the faultlines of the world. Kenya-Jade Pinto's doc examines how modern surveillance technology, bio-metrics and AI are combining to make land and sea borders as impenetrable as air travel, and suggests the unspoken cost is our own humanity.
Atonement
A former Marine suffering from PTSD seeks a meeting with the Iraqi family to which he did great wrong ten years earlier in the Gulf War. Atonement navigates challenging, politically-charged psychological territory with diligence and sensitivity.
The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
Slavoj Zizek re-teams with director Sophie Fiennes for another wildly entertaining romp through the crossroads of cinema and philosophy. From The Sound of Music to Titanic, Jaws to The Dark Knight, Zizek offers new ways to understanding Hollywood.
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema takes the viewer on an exhilarating ride through some of the greatest movies ever made (Hitchcock, Lynch, Tarkovsky et al). Serving as guide is Slavoj Zizek, the superstar Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst.
You Had to Be There
In a strange quirk of fate, the legendary Toronto '72 production of the musical comedy Jesus hit Godspell launched a constellation of comedy stars, all unknown at the time but now known to us as Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, et al