Studio Ghibli to Receive Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival

Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind “My Neighbor Totoro” and the Oscar-winning animated feature “The Boy and the Heron,” is being awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival. It marks the first time that the award will be given to a group.

The studio was co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki in 1984 following the release of Miyazaki’s “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.”

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“I am truly honored and delighted that the studio is awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or,” Suzuki said in a statement. “I would like to thank the Festival de Cannes from the bottom of my heart. Forty years ago, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and I established Studio Ghibli with the desire to bring high-level, high-quality animation to children and adults of all ages. Today, our films are watched by people all over the world, and many visitors come to the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka and Ghibli Park to experience the world of our films for themselves.” Suzuki continued, “We have truly come a long way for Studio Ghibli to become such a big organization. Although Miyazaki and I have aged considerably, I am sure that Studio Ghibli will continue to take on new challenges, led by the staff who will carry on the spirit of the company. It would be my greatest pleasure if you look forward to what’s next.”

Added Cannes president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Fremaux, “For the first time in our history, it’s not a person but an institution that we have chosen to celebrate. Like all the icons of the Seventh Art, these characters populate our imaginations with prolific, colorful universes and sensitive, engaging narrations. With Ghibli, Japanese animation stands as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity”.

The Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli has produced titles by Miyazaki including “Princess Mononoke,” “Spirited Away,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and more. Earlier this year, Miyazaki won his second Oscar for “The Boy and the Heron.”

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 to May 25.

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