The Cannes Film Festival awards the honorary Palme d’Or to a group for the first time: Studio Ghibli. The Japanese animated film production company, founded by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, will be awarded during the 77th edition of the festival, scheduled from 14 to 25 May 2024.
“I am truly honored and happy that the Studio has received the honorary Palme d’Or – declared Toshio Suzuki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli – I want to thank the Cannes Film Festival from the bottom of my heart. Forty years ago, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and I founded Studio Ghibli with the desire to create high-quality, high-quality animation for children and adults of all ages. Today our films are seen by people all over the world, and many visitors come to the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, and Ghibli Park to experience these films. It’s been a long journey for Studio Ghibli to become such a large organization. Even though Miyazaki and I have aged a lot, I am sure that Studio Ghibli will continue to face new challenges, guided by a work group that will carry forward the spirit of the company. I’m eager to see what the future holds.”
“For the first time in our history, we have chosen to celebrate not a person but an institution,” said Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux, general delegate. “Like all the icons of the Seventh Art, these characters populate our imagination with prolific and colorful universes and sensitive and engaging narratives. With Ghibli, Japanese animation presents itself as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity.”
