A New Dawn premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and later screens at the Fantasia International Film Festival. The film received mixed reviews for its narrative, though its visuals were praised.
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, a traditional Japanese-style painter with no prior feature directing experience, made his debut with the hand-drawn film A New Dawn. The film earned a spot in the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival, a rare achievement for an anime feature. The story follows three childhood friends in a rural town who try to save a family fireworks factory from being seized over unpaid debts. Shinomiya said the project was inspired by a real event in 2016 when solar panels appeared near his home, and his daughter asked if it was the sea.
The Hollywood Reporter review described the film as visually original, with painterly backgrounds, traditional character animation, and claymation, but noted that the script lacks emotional heft and the climax, a massive firework device called the shuhari, mixes traditional and CGI animation. The film runs 75 minutes and was produced by Asmik Ace, Studio Outrigger, and Miyu Productions. Shinomiya directed, wrote, and animated the film himself.
After its Berlin premiere, the Fantasia International Film Festival added A New Dawn to its lineup for a North American premiere. The festival runs from July 16 to August 2 in Montreal. The film's selection at both a major A-list festival and a prominent genre festival signals continued recognition of Japanese animation as serious cinema, even when the narrative is considered uneven.
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The 30th Fantasia International Film Festival will screen multiple anime premieres including the world premiere of CloverWorks' three-part collection Grotesqqque, two episodes of the live-action Junji Ito series, and several short films, along with the North American premiere of A New Dawn and the Canadian premiere of cocoon. The festival runs July 16 to August 2 in Montreal.
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya, a traditional Japanese-style painter who worked on flashback sequences for Makoto Shinkai's 'Your Name.' and contributed to 'In This Corner of the World,' has made his feature directorial debut with 'A New Dawn.' The film had its world premiere this week in the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Set in a rural town, the story follows Keitaro, the son of a vanished fireworks artisan, who seeks a mythical firework called 'Shuhari' as a typhoon approaches and redevelopment threatens his home. Shinomiya said the project was triggered around 2016 when a field in front of his atelier was suddenly covered with solar panels, and his daughter asked if it was the sea. The film explores themes of inheritance, environmental change, and the erosion of traditional Japanese communal life. Shinomiya described the concept of 'Shuhari' as a three-stage process of mastery: follow the rules, break them, then transcend them. He said the ending is intentionally open, inspired by American New Cinema, and meant to leave audiences wondering about the characters after the film ends.
Yoshitoshi Shinomiya's feature debut "A New Dawn" premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received a mixed review from The Hollywood Reporter. The film follows three childhood friends-Sentaro Obinata (voiced by Miyu Irino), his brother Keitaro (Riku Hagiwara), and their friend Kaoru Shikimori (Kotone Furukawa)-who band together to save a family fireworks factory from being seized by the municipality over unpaid debts. Shinomiya, a visual artist who worked on the watery flashback sequence in "Your Name," directed, wrote, and animated the film. The review describes the visuals as admirably original, with painterly backgrounds, traditional character animation, and claymation, but notes that the script lacks emotional heft. The climax features a massive firework device called the shuhari, executed with a mix of traditional and CGI animation. The film runs 75 minutes and was produced by Asmik Ace, Studio Outrigger, and Miyu Productions.