The latest animated film by famous Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki will be presented for the first time in Europe on September 22 at the opening of the San Sebastian festival in Spain, the organizers announced on Thursday.
The Boy and the Heron (whose working title was How do you live?) is the first film in ten years – and probably his last – from the director of Spirited Away (2001) and won the Oscar for best film. animation. “This is the fourth time that a film by the Japanese filmmaker has been programmed at the San Sebastian festival, but it is the first time that it will be part of the official selection,” the organizers of the 71st edition said in a press release. edition of the event, which will last from September 22 to 30 in this city of the Spanish Basque Country.
Miyazaki, 82, founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with director Isao Takahata, who died in 2018. He has directed a dozen feature films, including the famous Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo on the Cliff or even The Wind Rises (2013). In 2014, he received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. The Boy and the Heron, released in July in its country of origin and also presented at the Toronto Film Festival in early September, takes place in Japan during the Second World War.
A boy named Mahito leaves Tokyo with his father and moves to the countryside after the tragic death of his mother. There he meets a gray heron who takes him to a fantastic universe where he gradually discovers the mystery of his mother’s death and her family history.
The selection of the San Sebastian festival will also be able to count on the French Robin Campillo who returns after the success of 120 beats per minute with L’Île Rouge, a film on French colonization in Madagascar released earlier this year in France. Also in competition are Argentineans María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat, with their film Puan, but also Martín Rejtman, with La Pratique, and American director Raven Jackson (All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt). The festival will pay tribute to Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who will receive an honorary award although his presence has not been confirmed due to the strike by Hollywood actors.