A great achievement for Japanese animation. The Locarno Film Festival honored Mamoru Hosoda’s ‘Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime’ (‘Belle’) with the children’s award.
This will be the first time that the Locarno Film Festival has presented this award, given to “someone capable of bringing cinema closer to younger audiences”. A phrase that not only speaks of Hosoda’s latest film but of his entire career.
The director will receive the award on August 3 at the ceremony online, while the film will be screened in the Piazza Grande as a stellar event in Switzerland.
Of course this is not all, the Locarno Film Festival also plans to broadcast Hosoda’s most popular films on the big screen, featuring ‘Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo’ and ‘Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki’ (‘Wolf Children’)
This portion of the event will be dedicated to the smallest of the house, as proof that everything Mamoru Hosoda touches turns into an incredible production, which captures the hearts of the youngest.
A little more Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime
‘Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime’ premiered on July 16 in Japan, topping the box office charts and earning more than US $ 8 million during its opening weekend.
In our region it does not yet have a release date, but it is expected that the film will be available in winter 2022, with the distribution of GKIDS which describes the story:
Suzu, a 17-year-old schoolgirl, lives with her father in a village surrounded by nature in Kochi prefecture, after her mother died in an accident when she was a child. Suzu loved singing with her mother more than anything else, but after her death, she has been unable to sing.
Writing songs is the only thing that gives Suzu any comfort until one day her best friend invites her to join a virtual community on the Internet called U with more than 5 billion members worldwide. In U, you can live another life as AS, which is what avatars are called there. Although Suzu can’t sing in real life, singing comes naturally to her in U as an AS known as Belle. Belle quickly captures the attention of the citizens of U with her songs and becomes a global superstar diva.
On the day of Belle’s big concert seen by millions of AS around the world: a mysterious presence known as the Dragon suddenly bursts into the concert hall. Their concert is ruined by the violent and arrogant Dragon. Belle, who wants to know why the Dragon is in such pain, approaches him. Dragon, on the other hand, slowly opens his heart to Belle’s soft voice.
Soon, the search for the Dragon’s identity begins across the world.
A group of AS claiming to be the protectors of justice begin their tireless search for the Dragon who they believe disrupts order in U. The Dragon becomes the target of trolls and abuse both in U and in the real world. The more people chase him in both worlds, the stronger Belle feels to find him and heal her heart.
Will Suzu’s voice reach from a remote corner of the real world to this unique and unknown individual in a world of billions? A miracle occurs when the two worlds merge into one.
Another reality. Another you. You are no longer alone.
