Two animated features from Japanese masters have been selected to compete in the 65th annual Venice Film Festival. Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo) and Mamoru Oshii’s The Sky Crawlers will be among 21 feature films to be screened in competition during the event, taking place Aug. 27 through Sept. 6th at Venice Lido. The shorts lineup will be announced at a later date.
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is the latest 2D-animated feature from the legendary Miyazaki, founder of Studio Ghibli. The film centers on a five-year-old boy’s friendship with a ‘girl-fish’ who wants to be human and ventures out of her underwater world. The boy’s character is based on Miyazaki’s own son, Goro. Miyazaki was reportedly directly involved in many aspects of the animation himself, preferring to draw the sea and waves himself. The movie debuted in Japan on July 19 and reportedly earned around $17 million.
Sky Crawlers, the latest effort from the director of Ghost in the Shell, is produced by Nippon TV and animated by Production I.G.. The story revolves around two teenagers caught in an aerial war in a parallel universe. The feature is based on Hiroshi Mori’s popular novel series, first published in 2001, and will be released in Japan on August 2.
The aim of the Venice Film Festival is to encourage the awareness and the promotion of various aspects of international cinema as art, entertainment and industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance. For more information, go to www.labiennale.org.
