Studio Ghibli to be first group recipient of Cannes’ Honorary Palme d’Or
By Bryan Ke
Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli has become the first group to ever receive the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Honorary Palme d’Or, an award typically reserved for individuals.
Key points:
- Cannes announced the honor in a press release on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of the film festival’s honoring of Studio Ghibli.
- “For the first time in our history, it’s not a person but an institution that we have chosen to celebrate,” Iris Knobloch, president of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, general delegate, said in a joint statement. “With Ghibli, Japanese animation stands as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity.”
- The award will be given at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival, which will run on May 14-25.
The details:
- Thanking the film festival for the honor, Studio Ghibli co-founder and producer Toshio Suzuki said in a statement, “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. … We have truly come a long way for Studio Ghibli to become such a big organization.”
- Founded in 1985 by Suzuki, Miyazaki and the late director Takahata, Studio Ghibli has garnered worldwide acclaim for its storytelling, humanistic themes and environmental commitments.
- The Japanese studio is well-known for producing and releasing critically acclaimed feature animations, such as “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Princess Mononoke” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.” Miyazaki has also received two Oscars for best feature animation: “Spirited Away” in 2002 and, more recently, “The Boy and the Heron.”
- “The Boy and the Heron” opened to commercial success and critical acclaim. The 2023 film has grossed $173.3 million in the global box office.
About the award:
- The Honorary Palme d’Or is a non-competitive award typically given to actors and directors for their contribution to cinema. It should not be confused with the Palme d’Or, the highest award at the show, which is reserved for the best film in the official competition.
- Aside from Studio Ghibli, “Star Wars” franchise creator George Luca is also set to receive his Honorary Palme d’Or next month.
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