Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron

After the release of The Wind Rises, animation icon Miyazaki Hayao announced his retirement (again) from filmmaking. What drove him to come out of retirement once more at the age of 76 to make The Boy and the Heron? This illuminating documentary chronicles Miyazaki’s sevenyear journey to produce the film, in spite of personal tragedies, his own mortality and his insecurities. The film may not decode all the abstract symbolisms in the Heron , but it’s an essential companion piece that explains why it is by far Miyazaki’s most personal film and why the filmmaker may never properly retire.

Cannes Film Festival