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04/09/24 11:34 AM IST

Hayao Miyazaki wins Magsaysay Award

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  • Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, considered one of the greatest animators and directors, has won the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Hayao Miyazaki
  • Miyazaki was born in 1941 in Tokyo. His father was the director of a company that manufactured parts for fighter planes during World War II.
  • In his book Starting Point: 1979 to 1996, Miyazaki wrote that some of his earliest memories are of “bombed-out cities”. By age four, he had witnessed the bombing of Utsunomiya.
  • Despite having an affinity for manga (a popular style of Japanese comics and graphic novels), Miyazaki initially had trouble drawing people.
  • He spent years drawing planes, battleships and tanks, which found their way into his cinema as well.
  • After studying economics and political science, he began his career as an animator in 1963.
  • Before the creation of his production company Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki’s major projects included the long-running series World Masterpiece Theater; and Future Boy Conan, which he directed.
  • In the 1969 film The Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots, he worked with other top animators in Japan to execute distinct visual sequences.
Studio Ghibli
  • Miyazaki, along with director Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 under the publishing company Tokuma Shoten. Most of their films were directed by Miyazaki, with Takahata being the second-biggest contributor.
  • Miyazaki’s first two films with the studio, Castle in the Sky (1986) and My Neighbor Totoro (1988), failed to do well commercially.
  • It was only with Kiki’s Delivery Service in 1989 that the studio tasted success.
  • Their most famous film is perhaps Spirited Away (2001).
  • It tells the story of Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who mysteriously gets trapped in the world of ‘Kami’ (spirits of Japanese folklore) and must try to return to the human world.
  • Spirited Away was the first non-English film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, although Miyazaki refused to attend the award ceremony over his opposition to the Iraq War.
  • Studio Ghibli has also become synonymous with gentle, aesthetically pleasing visuals — many of which are meticulously hand-drawn by Miyazaki even in the digital age.
  • Miyazaki has also been influenced by leftist ideologies and said that he considers Karl Marx’s communism in line with his own values. Many conservatives in Japan have criticised his films.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
  •   Established in 1957 as Asia's highest honour and premier prize.
  • It celebrates individuals who demonstrate exceptional spirit in serving the people of Asia, regardless of their background.
  • The award is presented annually on August 31st, which coincides with the birthday of Ramon Magsaysay, the third president of the Republic of the Philippines, who inspired its creation.
  • Awardees are presented with a certificate, a medallion with an embossed image of Ramon Magsaysay and a cash prize.
  • The award is internationally recognised as the Nobel Prize counterpart of Asia.
Source- Indian Express

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