The prestigious Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki (Tokyo, 1941) will be in charge of opening the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Festival out of competition with his new work, The Boy and the Heron. After passing through the Toronto Film Festival on September 7, the event directed by José Luis Rebordinos will host the European premiere of the new proposal by the master of animation cinema, author of such emblematic and popular films as Spirited Away or The Princess Mononoke.
The film will be screened at the Kursaal Auditorium on Friday, September 22, after the opening gala. The Boy and the Heron introduces us to a boy named Mahito, who lost his mother in the context of World War II. The young man, along with his father and his stepmother, move to another city, and at this point, adapting to a new place and his new life is difficult for the protagonist. The story is based on the homonymous book written by Genzaburo Yoshino in 1937.
The premiere of the film in Japan took place on July 14 surrounded by mystery, since there were no previous trailers or any kind of promotion in order to prevent viewers from having any kind of preconception. As legendary Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki put it, “I thought giving too much information would reduce audience interest.” The Boy and the Heron includes some autobiographical elements by Miyazaki, who also wrote the screenplay, which promises a deeply personal and moving experience.
It is the fourth time that a film by the Japanese filmmaker, who also writes, draws and designs buildings, has been programmed at the San Sebastian Festival, but it is the first in which it is part of the Official Section. Previously, he was at the Velodrome with Spirited Away and Ponyo on the Cliff and in Perlak with The Wind Rises.
The director founded Studio Ghibli with Isao Takahata in 1985. Since then he has directed, among others, films such as Castle in the Sky, 1986, My Neighbor Totoro, 1988, Nicky, the Witch’s Apprentice, 1989 and Princess Mononoke, 1997. With Spirited Away, 2001 broke all box office records in Japan and garnered numerous awards, including the Golden Bear in Berlin and the Oscar for best animated film.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) was also nominated for an Oscar and received the Osella Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Miyazaki won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement the following year. In 2013 The Wind Rises was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Film.
Miyazaki has been named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Government of Japan and in 2014 received the Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement and was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Awards Hall of Fame.
