We’re less than forty-eight hours away from the start of the 74th Cannes Film Festival, but a new film has been officially added to the lineup, as per Variety. Animation fans will be excited to learn that director Mamoru Hosoda’s latest, Belle, is now officially a premiere selection slated for July 15th. The film follows a teenager named Suzu who lives in the mountains with her father and leads a separate identity as a wildly popular singer in the virtual world of U.
This is the first time that one of Hosoda’s films has been an official selection at Cannes. His previous film, Mirai, debuted in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes before going on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature and the Annie Awards’ top prize. This is his ninth film overall, and his credits include Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
Hosoda shared that “‘Belle’ is the film that I’ve always dreamt to create and that I can make today thanks to the culmination of my previous films. In this one, I explore romance, action, and suspense as well as deeper themes such as life and death. I hope that it will be a big entertaining show.”
Belle, which is produced by Hosoda and Studio Chizu co-founder Yuichiro Saito, also incorporates artwork from Cartoon Saloon’s Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, as well as character design from Jin Kim. Gkids will distribute the film is North America. It is slated for release in Japan this month and at the end of the year in France.
Belle is now the third animated film playing at Cannes this year, with Hosoda joining two other filmmakers who have previously had their films open at Cannes. Patrick Imbert (Ernest & Celestine) has The Summit of the Gods, while Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) has Where is Anne Frank.
Here’s the English Trailer for the film.