Cannes 2021: Mamoru Hosoda’s animated ‘Belle’ joins Cannes Premiere lineup

Belle, the animated film by the Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda will world premiere during the 74th Festival de Cannes in the Cannes Premiere section, it was announced today. 

Cannes Premiere, a new section this year, is designed to give returning Cannes favorites and auteurs a place to screen new work outside of the competition at the Debussy theater. Thierry Frémaux, artistic director and general delegate of the festival, describes this new segment of the program as “films that could have been a part of the official competition,” adding, “We didn’t want them to screen anywhere else.” Among those films also include Andrea Arnold’s Cow, Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Jane by Charlotte, Kornél Mundruczo’s Evolution and Hong Sang-soo’s In Front of Your Face.

Following his films 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.

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.

“Belle is the film that I’ve always dreamt to create, said 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.”

The 74th Cannes Film Festival runs July 6-17, 2021. Belle will be screened on Thursday, July 15.

Image: Studio Chizu

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2024 North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) Nominations - December 21, 2024
• 2024 Philadelphia Film Critics Circle (PFCC) Winners: ‘Anora’ Named Best Film Among its Six Awards - December 21, 2024
• 2024 Utah Film Critics Association (UFCA) Nominations - December 21, 2024