Julia Louis and Seth Rogen’s ‘Tangles’ gets seven-minute ovation at Cannes

Canadian filmmaker Leah Nelson received a warm and emotional seven-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of her animated feature “Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me”, during a packed Special Screening on Thursday evening.

Nelson attended the premiere alongside voice cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Rogen, Abbi Jacobson, and Samira Wiley, as well as producers Lauren Miller Rogen and Vicky Patel. Also in attendance was Sarah Leavitt, whose autobiographical graphic memoir of the same name served as the inspiration for the animated adaptation.

The film recounts Leavitt’s personal journey as she steps away from her life as an activist and artist in 1990s San Francisco to return to her hometown and care for her strong-willed, beloved mother, whose battle with Alzheimer’s gradually erodes her memory and personality. Blending tenderness, humor, and heartbreak, the poignant story struck a chord with audiences in Cannes.

The screening proved to be an emotionally charged moment for Leavitt, Nelson, Miller Rogen, and Patel, all of whom have been personally affected by Alzheimer’s through family experiences at different points in their lives.

“Thank you so much to all these incredible people, and thank you for being here and sharing this story with us,” an emotional Leavitt said as the applause slowly subsided.

Lauren Miller Rogen, whose mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 55, did not speak on the microphone but was visibly moved as the lights came up.

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She and her husband, Seth Rogen, co-founded Hilarity for Charity in 2012, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families impacted by Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile, Vicky Patel, who heads Monarch Media with Steve Barnett and Alan Powell, has also become a leading fundraiser for brain science research following her late father’s diagnosis with the disease.