Few filmmakers are as enigmatic and revered as Hayao Miyazaki, the powerhouse animator behind Studio Ghibli films such as ¡°My Neighbor Totoro¡± (1988), ¡°Spirited Away¡± (2001) and, most recently, ¡°The Boy and the Heron¡± (2023). Equally rare is the level of access documentary filmmaker Kaku Arakawa has had to this anime icon over the past two decades.
Arakawa¡¯s latest work, ¡°Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron,¡± is his fourth documentary centered on Studio Ghibli and the man behind it, and it offers an unflinching and intimate look at Miyazaki as the now-octogenarian auteur grapples with his legacy, personal mortality and the herculean challenge of creating a masterpiece that could very well be his swan song.
First aired by national broadcaster NHK in 2023 and re-edited for its Cannes premiere last year, ¡°Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron¡± is currently available to audiences outside of Japan on streaming services such as Max, Amazon Prime and Netflix.
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