Giovanni’s Island to Participate in New York International Children’s Film Festival Competition

© JAME

Giovanni’s Island, an anime movie that depicts a post-WWII drama taking place on the southern Kuril Islands, was released to theaters Japan-wide on Feb. 22. The wonderful graphics of the film are already gathering attention, and it seems that this assessment has already spread to overseas as well. The film is now officially entering the Feature Film category in the competition of the New York International Children’s Film Festival, to be held from March 7-22 in the U.S.

The New York International Children’s Film Festival is a world-representing film festival intended for children that was launched in 1997 and is being held for the 17th time this year. Every year, more than 100 live-action and animated movies are screened, gathering more than 20,000 viewers. In 2012, A Letter to Momo won the Grand Prize, and there are expectations that Giovanni’s Island will also do well.

Giovanni’s Island was created as a movie commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Japan Association of Music Enterprises (JAME). There are many representative Japanese creators and artists participating in the project, such as Shigemichi Sugita, known from the TV series Kita no Kuni kara, who is responsible for the original concept and scriptwriting, and Masashi Sada, responsible for the main theme. The anime is produced by Production I.G, while the director is Mizuho Nishikubo from Miyamoto Musashi: Soken ni Haseru Yume and Next A-Class.

Giovanni’s Island is based on a real-life event that happened in 1945 on Shikotan island. It depicts the interaction and bond between the Japanese and Russian people living on Shikotan and the strength to stay alive under harsh circumstances.

Giovanni’s Island

Comment from the NYICFF Feature Film Competition:
The symphony and the hand drawing brimming with grace and beauty seasoned the story with a unique touch characteristic only to animation - a harsh story about young brothers surviving the difficulties their tiny bodies cannot bear. After such seasoning and tuning, a universal drama was born.

Comment from director Mizuho Nishikubo:
I am very happy that it was nominated to such an influential film festival. I endeavored to depict the historic background with the most possible accuracy and not to let it become a biased understanding of history. It is not a political message that I aimed to convey; I’d only like the viewers to experience the era the protagonists lived in.

Kenji Miyazawa’s novel Night on the Galactic Railroad often appears in the story, and it symbolizes the emotions and emotional driving force of the protagonists. I would like the viewers to think along about one of the subjects of the novel while watching the film, that is, “What is true happiness?” I would be very happy if many people from all around the world could watch this film.

Source: animeanime
Source article written by Yushi Makari

© JAME
© JAME
© JAME
© JAME

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