(Toronto) The first feature film in 10 years from great Japanese animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki will open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 7.
The Boy and the Heron is written and hand-drawn by the 82-year-old master Miyazaki, who came out of retirement to direct this twelfth feature film. This “rite of passage to adulthood” centers on a boy whose mother is killed during World War II and the magical world in which he takes refuge.
Miyazaki, who won an Oscar for 2001’s Spirited Away to critical and popular acclaim, is considered a brilliant storyteller and has inspired animation filmmakers around the world.
The Boy and the Heron set box office records when it was released in Japan earlier this month, despite a complete lack of promotion from Studio Ghibli — not even a trailer. The film will have its North American premiere at TIFF on September 7 at Roy Thomson Hall.
Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, also directed The Wind Rises, which won an Oscar in 2013, and the 1988 classic My Neighbor Totoro.
No release date in North American theaters has yet been announced by the GKIDS company which will distribute the film later this year.
TIFF will run from September 7-17.
