Live from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Palme d'Honneur at Studio Ghibli. Splashes of childhood on the Croisette!

They grew up marveling at The Castle in the Sky, Kiki the Little Witch or Spirited Away. To attend the presentation of the Palm of Honor awarded to the legendary studio, many young people from the Ghibli generation came to express their joy in the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Here a Chinese podcast author, there a Japanese director in traditional dress. And everywhere, from the heights of the balcony to the orchestra seats, admirers from all countries exclaimed: “Arigato! » (thank you in Japanese, editor’s note).

Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki (The Tales from Earthsea, Poppy Hill), had come specially to receive the prize on behalf of the studio. “Through this prize, I would like to associate all the work of the teams who have worked for us over all these years,” he said. Under the leadership of seven directors, the Ghibli firm employs dozens of artists specializing in the art of animated cinema, has its museum and its own amusement park in Japan. Founded forty years ago by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki – the “living god” of Japanese animation – the studio has produced more than thirty animated feature films, most of which have achieved worldwide success.

It was the director Juan Antonio Bayona, a great admirer of Ghibli films, who presented this Palm of Honor: “I remember the emotion of seeing all these films, in particular The wind picks up, and his message “We must try to continue living.” Thank you for bringing us into your home and making our lives a little better and much tastier,” said the Spanish filmmaker. To thank the admirers present at Cannes, studio managers wanted to share a surprise with the public: four short films by Hayao Miyazaki, never shown outside of Japan, were screened after the Palme was awarded. In the middle of a Cannes afternoon, this ceremony was a beautiful return to the land of childhood, dreams and poetry.