The Cannes International Film festival is one the most prestigious film festivals in the world, so prestigious that as of this date, only five animated films have been screened in competition.This basically means that only the creme of the crop animated movies get recognized.
It shouldn't come as a suprise that Ghost In The Shell: Innocence, the highly anticipated sequel to Ghost In The Shell, has been nominated. Mamoru Oshii, Director said that " I am very grateful for the film to receive this honor, as this nomination is yet more proof that Japanese animation (Anime) is finally being recognized as a "movie."
Japanimation is rapidly being recognized around the world as a major cinematic force, and like its predecessor, Innocence has continued this trend. Out of the 1300 titles that have been submitted to the festival this year, only 18 have actually made. Talk about stiff competition.
The four previous films that have been nominated at the Cannes festival are Dumbo, Peter Pan, Shrek, and Fantastic Planet. It is an honor to have Ghost In The Shell, In my opinon the very representative of Japanese animation, nominated.
The Japanese release date was March 6, 2004 (Official U.S. Release Date: September 17, 2004). It had a production budget of approximately US $20 million (approx. 2 billion yen).
The synopsis of Innocence begins in the year 2032, a time where major cities are inhabited by a few humans, and many more cyborgs or androids. Individuals such as Batou have a human spirit, which in the film is referred to as a "ghost" but are in danger of being hacked into. In this film, Section 9 is investigating a coporation which builds female pleasure doll, when the dolls began murdering their owners. I won't tell you the whole detail of the movie, you'll just have to wait and see it. It is a film that no anime fan you ever miss.
