YOUR NAME Anime artist Yoshitoshi Shinomiya makes his feature film directorial debut with A NEW DAWN

Anime artist Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (Your Name, The Woodland Garden) is making his feature film directorial debut with an anime film titled A new dawn.

This is said to be a “deeply personal film” for the director and was inspired by the changing Japanese landscape following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

A new dawn “takes place inside an inactive fireworks factory that is about to go into administrative action. For the last four years, young Keitaro has lived inside the abandoned structure, chasing the illusion of a father who disappeared years before.

“The location was nestled in a lush forest, but the surrounding area was recently redeveloped by the city, which covered the land with solar panels. Around the factory, amidst the sea of ​​panels, only a little greenery remains.

“With the end of his makeshift home just around the corner, Keitaro takes it upon himself to launch a firework that his father left before the building is reclaimed. He recruits his brother and a childhood friend to help him close this chapter of his life and bring about a new dawn.

Shinomiya spoke about how the idea for the film came about, saying, “One day, on the way to my workshop, my son looked out the car window and shouted, ‘I see the sea!'”

He continued: “I realized that the solar panels my son saw through the trees actually looked like the surface of water. At that moment I thought, “This is a new scenery of Japan and the next generation will capture it with this kind of sensitivity, even though I saw that landscape as something negative.” I felt that moment was very significant for me and I believe it was the beginning of this project.”

Speaking about the film’s visual influences, he explained: “During the development of the script, I learned that the paper, seaweed and pigments used to make Japanese paintings had aspects in common with fireworks before the Edo period.”

And he adds: “I have always considered objects as paints detached from such a traditional context, but in reality for pyrotechnics there were materials that could replace gunpowder. It was a really cool surprise. Even with this kind of modern lifestyle, there was something that the artisan culture of 100 or 200 years ago had in common.”

It looks like it’s going to be a wonderful movie. It is produced by Tokyo-based Asmik Ace (Inu-Oh, Tekkonkinkreet) and the French Miyu Productions (Chicken for Linda, Tens of North).

Key artists working on the film include character designer Utsushita, art director Akiko Majimaand composer Shuta Hasunuma.

A new dawn it is currently in production and will be released in 2025.

Source: variety