News

Indonesian Film Censorship Board Registers Princess Kaguya, Giovanni's Island

The Indonesian Film Censorship Board registered the anime films The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Giovanni's Island. The films' respective entries indicate that the Embassy of Japan registered the films. No Indonesian film distributors have yet announced any film screening or distribution plans for either film.

Studio Ghibli and Isao Takahata's (Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday) The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) anime film is based on the famous Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), which centers on a princess named Kaguya who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. In the film, her adoptive father uses his money to buy a land, title, and tutors for the girl to teach her to be a refined woman. She quickly earns many suitors due to her beauty, but she pines after her old life, and her sweetheart, Sutemaru.

The film topped the Japanese box office in its November 2013 release, selling 222,822 tickets to earn 284,252,550 yen (about US$2.8 million at the time) on 456 screens. The 87th Academy Awards nominated the film in the Best Animated Feature Film category.

Mizuho Nishikubo's Giovanni's Island (Giovanni no Shima) anime film tells the story of two brothers living on the island of Shikotan. Their family and the people of the island hear of Japan's loss in the war and are told not to worry. However, their island gets caught in the middle of the continuing conflict in the west and is invaded by Russian soldiers. The boys meet a western girl on the island named Tanya and the older of the brothers, despite their language barriers, cultural differences, and warnings from friends, starts to fall in love with her. The boys' father gets lured out by the army is and is captured and taken to Siberia. The brothers embark on a journey to see their father again.

The film premiered in Japan in February 2014, and it won the Jury Distinction award at France's Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2014. The film also received the Satoshi Kon Prize for Excellence in Animation and tied for the Audience Award at the 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal in September, and it won the Jury Special Mention at the Nueva Mirada Film Festival in Buenos Aires.

[Via Kaori Nusantara]