The Oscar-winning Japanese film-maker Hayao Miyazaki is to retire from directing after the release of his final movie, which premiered in competition at the Venice film festival at the weekend.
The famed animator was not in Italy for the debut of The Wind Rises, but his retirement was revealed by Studio Ghibli president Koju Hoshino in a deliberately short announcement on Sunday ahead of a full press conference in Tokyo next week. "He wants to say goodbye to all of you," said Hoshino.
Miyazaki, 72, is one of the most celebrated figures in animated film-making, with iconic movies such as 1997's Princess Mononoke, 2001's Oscar-winning Spirited Away and 2004's Howl's Moving Castle in his canon. With Isao Takahata, he co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. The company has produced 18 feature films, with several taking the top spot at the Japanese box office for their respective years of release.
Miyazaki, who won a lifetime achievement award from the Venice film festival in 2005, previously retired following the international success of Princess Mononoke, but returned to direct Spirited Away four years later and then stepped in to take charge of Howl's Moving Castle when original director Mamoru Hosoda unexpectedly quit the production. The Wind Rises, his 11th feature-length film, is a fictionalised biography of Jiro Horikoshi, who designed Japanese fighter planes during the second world war.
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