Belle, the animation film by the Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda will be presented in world premiere during the 74th Festival de Cannes in the Cannes Premiere section. Following Wolf Children (2012), The Boy and the Beast (2015), and Mirai (2018), it is the first official Selection for Mamoru Hosoda.
Belle, is the third animation film presented this year at the Festival after Ari Folman’s Where is Anne Frank and The Summit of the Gods by Patrick Imbert.
Spearhead of a new wave of young animation film directors, Mamoru Hosoda takes the audience in his poetic and avant-garde universe in-between genres.
Belle tells the story of Suzu, an insecure teenager living in a small town in the mountains with her father… in real life. Because in the virtual world of U, Suzu becomes Belle, a musical icon followed by more than 5 billion followers…
With this film, Mamoru Hosoda returns on the subject of virtual worlds, already dealt in Summer Wars.
« Belle is the film that I’ve always dreamt to create, declared Mamoru Hosoda, 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.
In Official Selection for the first time, Mamoru Hosoda celebrates in the most beautiful way for the 10th Anniversary of Studio Chizu.
Belle will be screened on Thursday, July 15th at the Festival de Cannes.
The film will be released in French cinemas on December, 29th 2021.
By Cem Kaplan