Check out our interview with Belle‘s Academy Award Nominated Director and Writer, Mamoru Hosoda.
Belle has been charming audiences around the world since it premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to a 14-minute standing ovation. It is a gorgeously written and rendered tale of a young girl named Suzu, who discovers her identity and power through the use of her avatar in the digital world of U. The film is a heart-wrenching story of love and relationships that transcends the physical and digital worlds.
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Writer-Director of Belle, Mamoru Hosoda, has other famous projects that take place in the digital world. He is very much a pioneer in incorporating the digital world into films, like Digimon: The Movie and Summer Wars. We were fortunate enough to join the roundtable interviews with Hosoda-San and learn about his thoughts and philosophies of the digital world, and the pioneering technology’s effect on the world.
Belle Interview with Writer-Director Mamoru Hosoda
Mamoru Hosoda gave us incredibly thought-provoking answers to all of our questions. It was an absolute honor to see and witness how much thought he put into his answers and give a glimpse of the process and effort he puts into his projects. Hosoda’s unique understanding of the internet and digital realm is refreshing and focuses on the hopes and possibilities rather than the dark and doom that most storytellers tend to do. We hope you enjoy learning from Hosoda-san as much as we did. Also would like to give a special shoutout to Mike McNamara for translating for us.
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Belle is currently in theaters and has become Mamoru Hosoda’s highest-grossing U.S. Film so far! The film is distributed by GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of multiple Academy Award-nominated animated features. Fans have the option of watching both the original Japanese with English subtitles and with an English Dubbed version. Get your tickets now to not miss out on this fantastic film. Also, watch Hosoda-san tell the world more about designing the World of U in this video from GKIDS below and check out some stills of the World of U below that.
Belle Synopsis
From the celebrated Academy Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu, creators of Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more, comes a fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media.
Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
Have you watched Belle yet? Which song was your favorite? What other Mamoru Hosoda’s films do you love? Let us know what you think in the comments below and share your reactions to the movie with us on Twitter.
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