April 14 - April 16, 2023 Across Time and Space: The Films of Makoto Shinkai Series | WEATHERING WITH YOU, THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS, YOUR NAME., CHILDREN WHO CHASE LOST VOICES, “Voices of a Distant Star” and 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND
ABOUT THE SERIES: Born in Nagano prefecture, Japan, acclaimed filmmaker Makoto Shinkai began his career as a video game animator before directing the award-winning short film “She and Her Cat” in 1999. Following 2002’s “Voices of a Distant Star,” Shinkai made his feature film debut with THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS (2004), a coming-of-age story set amidst the chaos of a dystopian Soviet-Japanese future. Shinkai earned international praise with subsequent features such as 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (2007), CHILDREN WHO CHASE LOST VOICES (2011), and THE GARDEN OF WORDS (2013) before 2016’s YOUR NAME. became the highest-grossing anime film in history. In 2019, Shinkai’s fantastical romance WEATHERING WITH YOU was selected as Japan’s official submission to the 92nd Academy Awards. Drawing inspiration from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, Shinkai’s work is characterized by richly crafted, hand-drawn backgrounds and light patterns, an emphasis on natural imagery, and the use of magical realism. His stories often center around young people and their struggle to form or maintain interpersonal relationships, the emotional impact of which is not diluted by the surreal worlds or circumstances they exist in. Following in the footsteps of greats like Miyazaki, Mamoru Hosoda, Hideaki Anno, and Mamoru Oshii, Makoto Shinkai is recognized worldwide as a champion of the new generation of anime filmmaking.