Tangles

Sarah leaves behind her passionate life as an activist and artist in 1990s San Francisco when she is forced to return to the small, conservative town she fled a few years earlier after learning that Alzheimer’s has begun to erode her mother’s vibrant personality. Forced to grow up at lightning speed, she must juggle a new relationship, her professional ambitions, and an eccentric family, with whom she takes a round trip to Mexico in one last attempt to convince them to take the situation seriously. Faced with a bewildering reality she cannot control, Sarah has no choice but to find a balance by accepting her mother’s decline and her family’s wonderful imperfections if she is to become the daughter they need.

Leah Nelson is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer. She studied film at Emily Carr University and is a co-founder of the animation studio Giant Ant, based in Vancouver. In 2026, she directed Tangles, her first feature film, an animated adaptation of Sarah Leavitt’s graphic novel about a family coping with Alzheimer’s disease. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival as part of the Special Screenings.

With the collaboration of the QueerCineMad festival.

Year of Production: 2026

Time: 101’

Country: Canada

Language: English. Original version with Spanish subtitles

Director: Leah Nelson

Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Beanie Feldstein

Production: Vicky Patel, Lauren Miller Rogen, Jennifer W. Ray

Script: Leah Nelson, Trev Renney, Sarah Leavitt

Production Companies: Monarch Media, Point Grey Pictures, Lylas Pictures, Giant Ant

International Sales: Charades

Distribution: Elastica

Jury Prize and Critics’ Award at Deauville, Sebastiane Award at San Sebastián.

Selected for Cannes, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival

Premiere in Madrid