The legendary Japanese animation studio will be feted with the Honorary Palme d’Or - the first given to a collective.
ADVERTISEMENTStudio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival this year.
This marks the first time the festival has handed its Honorary Palme d’Or to a collective.
“For the first time in our history, it’s not a person but an institution that we have chosen to celebrate,” said Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate.
“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”.
Launched following the success of Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984, the company has produced over twenty feature films, including classic films by Miyazaki like My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), The Wind Rises (2013), and The Boy And The Heron (2023).
Studio Ghibli won its first Oscar for Best Animated Feature with Spirited Away and won the same award last year with The Boy and the Heron.
“I am truly honored and delighted that the studio is awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or,” said Toshio Suzuki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli.
“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 added: “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.”
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival runs from 14 – 25 May. Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas will also receive an Honorary Palme d’Or on the closing day and the full line-up for the 77 edition can be found here.
