A Conversation with Tony Benna (ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT)
In André Is An Idiot, which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance 2025 (where it won the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary), first-time feature director Tony Benna crafts an unexpectedly profound portrait of his friend André Ricciardi, a maverick advertising creative who responds to his terminal cancer diagnosis by proposing to make a comedy about his own death. Defying the conventions of both cancer documentaries and biographical portraits, the film weaves together stop-motion animation, intimate verité footage, and André’s sardonic wit to create something entirely unique – a meditation on mortality that finds genuine humor and humanity in the darkest of circumstances.
The documentary represents a thoughtful collaboration between A24 and Sandbox Films, anchored by Dan Deacon’s evocative electronic score and the film’s innovative visual approach. Through André’s unfiltered perspective on his own mortality, his creative ambitions, and his reflections on a life spent breaking rules in advertising, André Is An Idiot transforms what could be a somber story into a life-affirming exploration of how to face death with authenticity, curiosity, and an unwavering sense of humor.
Hammer To Nail: What drew you to André’s story initially, and how did the concept evolve from his first pitch to you about documenting his journey?
Anthony Benna: When André called me and asked to make a comedy about his cancer I was taken aback. It sent me into a whirlwind. As I thought about it I realized cancer is not funny but André definitely is. If anyone could make a subject this dark humorous, it would have been him. The concept evolved quite a bit. At first he wanted to shoot the whole thing on iPhones. Him and his friend Lee were having a lot of fun making potty jokes and when I came in, I convinced them to start shooting this on real cameras and make it beautiful. Even if it was just going to his kids, I felt like having beautiful footage would last the test of time. It became more sophisticated of a production and the humor became more sophisticated. I don’t think André was quite prepared for the sadder parts of his journey or the more trying parts. I knew all along they were coming and tried to prepare for them. I knew this was going to be a balance of comedy and tragedy.
HTN: The film incorporates stop-motion animation to bring André’s stories to life. Can you walk me through the decision-making process behind which moments would be animated versus filmed?
AB: The animation was born mostly from André’s rants. André goes on a lot of rants. They are always hilarious but the humor is so off color you could never show it with a real human being. When he’s joking about who wants to kill him and the different ways people could kill him. Obviously we can’t show that in live action it’s too gory. With a puppet it becomes more playful. Something as gross as getting your anus radiated, when you hear the story it’s very raw, but with the puppet it flips that tone. We wanted to take these really dark things and show them in a playful manner.
HTN: Dan Deacon’s electronic score brings a unique energy to the film. What guided your musical choices in handling such sensitive subject matter?
AB: When I did the edit I had some temp music in there, so the tones were already laid. When Dan came on board though it brought new life to the film. We had a long discussion where we talked about each track and its purpose. I had way too much music in the film. I think I had 72 cues. He was able to walk me through the film and point out places where it could open up and not have any music. He really understood the tone of comedy and tragedy I was going for and he did a beautiful job bringing this film to life.
HTN: André’s seemed reluctant to show emotional vulnerability despite being very open about physical aspects of his illness. How did you navigate that as a director?”
AB: I feel like André’s entire life used irreverent humor to escape situations. Externally, it looked vulnerable but on the inside he was not being truly vulnerable. The challenge for him on this film was realizing that vulnerability was more than irreverent humor. Vulnerability is a lot deeper than just making a joke out of something. As the director, I waited very patiently for his vulnerability to crack. I was really hoping he would have a transformation, and he did. It took a long time because he was a very stubborn and stoic person. He truly understood vulnerability in the last month of his life.
HTN: Talk about that editing process, it’s essential to the film, what sequence was hardest to nail in the editing room?
AB: The editing process was one of the biggest challenges of the film. We worked with multiple editors and in the end I wound up cutting 90% of the film myself. I knew André so intimately and I knew the story, it had to end with me behind the wheel. Finding that balance of comedy and tragedy was always the challenge. We had edits that were really hilarious, crazy Andre-centric and other edits that were really sad cancer films. I always knew it had to be something in between.
A still from André is an Idiot
HTN: There’s a moment where André refuses to hug his daughter goodbye at college. What was it like filming such an intimate moment?
AB: André and his family were never really touchy feely people. They were not a hugging type of family. They showed their love for each other in more cerebral ways. For André to go from never hugging his daughters to the end of the film where they hug, say “goodbye” and “I love you,” that is something I never thought I would see from André.
HTN: There’s that striking opening image of André with wild grey hair against the blue background – what’s the story behind capturing that shot?
AB: It was the first day of filming. We were all having a great time because we had not seen each other in a while. We started with a couple portraits of André. We knew his key physical attributes were his big hair, beard, personality and his Converse [shoes]. That was a statement, and filming that felt like documenting who he was right then and there. I knew that man was going to change over time, but I wanted to capture the man at the beginning of his journey and that’s why we opened with it.
HTN: André and his Kim Kardashian pants. How did that moment come together?
AB: One day André was talking about leaving things in his will. I asked him what he was thinking of leaving in his will and he mentioned this closet in his home filled with all kinds of crazy shit. We went down there and just filmed him going through all of this stuff! The Kim Kardashian pants was something he mentioned while we were doing this. We thought he was joking, but of course, knowing André, this was true. He had her pants and he did plan to clone her. He also had an envelope Emilia Earhart licked, a strand of Elvis’ hair, and many more odd things from people he wanted to clone.
HTN: There’s a scene where André discusses his Rise of the Planet of the Apes campaign – what made you include that specific work example?
AB: He had so many brilliant ad campaigns. Most of them were crazy ideas like the one that got the company sued. We landed on Apes because it was safer and more well known. The campaign he created went extremely viral. It got 30 million views in its first week. It was one of the first really viral campaigns for a feature film.
HTN: I love the moment with Andre’s father. How did that come to be?
AB: André, from the beginning, was nervous about asking his father to be in it. He knew he was extremely private and what he was exposing to the world, André would never do. He finally asked his father and the response was as expected. He said he would rather have chemo than be in his film. We had to go to a plan B and at first André said he wanted Barack Obama to play his father. That did not work out so the next best thing was Tommy Chong. Even though Tommy is the opposite of his father they look exactly alike.
Tony Benna with his Sundance ’25 Audience Award: U.S. Documentary (photo via Clayton Stewart, Park City Record)
HTN: Could you share a memorable moment from filming that didn’t make it into the final cut?
AB: One of the fun parts of our editing process was that we followed André on whatever crazy journey he wanted to do. It was his dying wish to make this film, so whatever he wanted to do we followed him. We did a session where he did 9 grams of mushrooms all at once. It’s supposed to help you prepare to die. We took a road trip to Montana where we sat in a radon mine. People breathe radioactive air and it’s supposed to alleviate pain. He really wanted to go to Italy and see this “head transplant” doctor. His mentality was, my body has cancer, but my head does not, why not give it a shot. We thought he might actually go through with it. We always kept the cameras rolling to see what he would do next.
HTN: Has making this film changed your own perspective on mortality or preventive healthcare?
AB: It’s changed immensely. I never really thought about my mortality too much until making this film. André was only 10 years older than me, and I have a daughter as well. To think that I would only have 10 more years with my daughter was mind blowing. I work in advertising as well and this film made me want to do something more meaningful with my life. Probably 200 people have gotten colonoscopies that we have met along the way. Friends, family, the crew and a lot of people I know got them who were involved in this film. I am really excited to see the change it can make on a larger platform.
HTN: As this is your first Sundance premiere, what has surprised you most about the festival experience and reaction to the film?
AB: I was very surprised by the diversity! Being on a zoom call with directors from around the world blew my mind. I really felt this worldly connection to this festival. When we premiered the film I felt naked on stage. I did not think anyone would like this movie. I thought it was all inside humor and no one was going to get it. The first laughs we got I was so shocked. It was an amazing moment to see people feel what I felt in that editing room. The response has been beyond my wildest dreams. For 2 weeks before the festival, I moped around my house telling my wife that I failed. I was embarrassed for my friends to see it and I thought the world was going to shun the film and not like it. The response has been life changing and has reiterated to me that I need to believe in myself more. When I got that standing ovation, I was in tears walking up to the Q and A because I could not believe people were clapping for this film. I had no expectations other than failure for this film.
HTN: Well it was definitely good enough, this is a great and very affecting film. Finally, can you talk about filming the scene where André finds out he has cancer?
AB: André recorded the call from the doctor because for some reason he thought the news might be life changing. The audio is the actual audio, we just recreated the scene. His family was having dinner downstairs, so he went up to his room and took it privately. We wanted to capture the tension of the moment where he realized it was not treatable and it could be the beginning of the end of his life.
– Jack Schenker (@YUNGOCUPOTIS)
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