Hayao Miyazaki's 'The Boy and the Heron' to open Toronto Film Festival
“The Boy and the Heron,” the first film in a decade by Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki, will open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.“The Boy and the Heron," the first film in a decade by Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki, will open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.
The long-awaited “The Boy and the Heron” opened earlier this month in Japan under the title “How Do You Live?” Miyazaki, the 82-year-old co-founder of Studio Ghibli and the maker of films including “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” came out of retirement to make his 12th feature.
“The Boy and the Heron," about a boy named Mahito whose mother is killed in the WWII fire bombings of Tokyo, was released without any trailer or marketing promotions in Japan as a way, Miyazaki has said, to make seeing the film more of a discovery.
But “The Boy and the Heron” will get a big platform to make its North American premiere when it kicks off TIFF on Sept. 7 at the Roy Thomson Hall.
“We are honored to open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival with the work of one of cinema’s greatest artists,” Cameron Bailey, TIFF chief executive CEO, said in a statement. “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.”
No release date has yet been announced but GKIDS will distribute “The Boy and the the Heron” later this year in North American theaters. The Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 7-17.