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From Up on Poppy Hill
NYICFF is extremely proud to present the US premiere of the highly anticipated new film from Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s DeliveryService, and many other animated masterpieces. Written by legendary studio founder Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Goro Miyazaki, From Up on Poppy Hill marks the first feature film collaboration between father and son. The results are stunning — a pure, sincere, nuanced and heartfelt film that signals yet another triumph for the esteemed studio. The setting is Yokohama in 1963, and the filmmakers masterfully bring to life the bustling seaside town, with its salty air, sun-drenched gardens, and some of the most mouthwatering Japanese home-cooking set to film (plan on ramen and pork katsu after the movie). The story centers on an innocent romance beginning to bud between Umi and Shun, two high school kids caught up in the changing times. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics — and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. This sense of yearning and possibility is palpable, evoking both a wide-eyed hope for the future and a longing nostalgia for a past that can never be recovered. Star-filled cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard and Anton Yelchin, among many others.