Druti Banerjee, Pune
The Boy and Heron, Hayao Miyazaki’s first picture in a decade, will open the 48th Toronto International Picture Festival, organizers announced Thursday.
The long-awaited The Boy and the Heron aired earlier this month in Japan as How Do You Live? Miyazaki, the 82-year-old Studio Ghibli co-founder and creator of films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, came out of retirement to create his 12th feature film.
The Youngster and the Heron, about a youngster named Mahito whose mother is murdered in the Tokyo fire bombings during World War II, was released in Japan without a trailer or marketing efforts in order, according to Miyazaki, to make the picture more of a surprise.
The Boy and the Heron, on the other hand, will have a large platform for its North American debut when it opens up TIFF on September 7 in the Roy Thomson Hall.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey made the announcement in a statement, “We are honored to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists.” He further added, “Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love and rises to a staggering work of imagination. I look forward to our audience discovering its mysteries for themselves, but I can promise a singular, transformative experience.”
Despite the lack of a release date, GKIDS will distribute The Boy and the Heron in North American cinemas later this year. The Toronto International Film Festival takes place between September 7 and September 17.