Animated fantasy “BELLE” will receive its World Premiere at the 74th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday July 15th in the Cannes Premiere section, joining an exciting line-up which includes new films from Andrea Arnold, Gaspar Noé, Mathieu Amalric and Oliver Stone. This is the first official selection for a film by Hosoda at the festival. Anime Limited, Europe's premiere distributor for Japanese animation, will be releasing “Belle” in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The film is written, directed, and produced by the celebrated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda whose previous works include “Mirai”, “The Boy and the Beast”, “Wolf Children”, “Summer Wars”, “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”, among other classics.
Anime Limited previously distributed “Mirai,” the previous film from Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, in the UK, France, and Ireland. After debuting at the Director's Fortnight in Cannes, “Mirai” went on to receive a nomination for “Best Animated Feature” from the 2019 Academy Awards and for “Best Feature – Animated” at the 2019 Golden Globe Awards. “Mirai” is the only Japanese animated film to have received a Golden Globe nomination in the history of the event.
The all-star team at Studio Chizu is joined on “BELLE” by an impressive roster of talent from around the world, many of them new to the world of anime. The striking character designs for the character of Belle come from character designer Jin Kim, best known for Disney features including “Frozen”, “Moana”, and “Tangled.” The Oscar®-nominated team of Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, who previously have worked at Cartoon Saloon on “Wolfwalkers”, “Song of the Sea”, and “The Secret of Kells”, contributed gorgeous artwork that enriches the fantasy of “BELLE”. As with previous films, Hosoda also collaborated with an architect to help design his films, this time joined by British architect and designer Eric Wong, who was tasked with designing the virtual world of “U”. Ludvig Forssell makes his theatrical debut as a composer with “BELLE”, having spent the last decade as a composer and audio director at Kojima Productions and scoring critically acclaimed games such as “Death Stranding” and “Metal Gear Solid V.”
Synopsis:
From the celebrated Oscar®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creator of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, yet beautiful and contemporary thematic story of one girl's growth in the age of social media.
Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural village with her father. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. One day, she enters “U,” a virtual world of 5 billion members on the Internet. There, she is not Suzu anymore but Belle, a world-famous singer. She soon meets with a mysterious creature. Together, they embark on a journey of adventures, challenges and love, in their quest to become who they truly are.
