Photo via Film at Lincoln Center/Studio Ghibli
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) announced its slate of productions to be featured as Spotlight selections at the 61st annual event. Among the films announced was “The Boy and the Heron”, legendary director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film and his first in a decade.
“The Boy and the Heron” follows teenager Mahito after he loses his mother and is forced to leave Tokyo to live with his stepmother. A heron appears and so begins a journey to an alternate reality to save both himself and his stepmother.
The film will make its United States premiere during the NYFF after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 7. It debuted in Japan on July 14 after an unusual promotional plan that featured none of the methods most commonly used to market modern films. There were no trailers or images released before the Japanese premiere, but a set of stills have been released recently.
Miyazaki left retirement to direct “The Boy and the Heron.” He has retired multiple times in his career, most recently following the release of his 2013 film “The Wind Rises.” Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio with award-winning releases such as “Spirited Away” and “Howl’s Moving Castle”, both of which he directed.
The NYFF will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 15. For more information on films and productions premiering at the NYFF, please visit the NYFF website. For more information on Studio Ghibli and a look at their filmography, visit the Studio Ghibli Collection.
SZNS MAG 