GKIDS ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR STUDIO GHIBLI’S
ONLY YESTERDAY
STUDIO GHIBLI CO-FOUNDER AND ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE ISAO TAKAHATA’S
MASTERWORK, NEVER BEFORE RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA
NEW ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VERSION FEATURES DAISY RIDLEY AND DEV PATEL
FILM TO RECEIVE 25th ANNIVERSARY THEATRICAL RELEASE WINTER 2016
New York, NY – August 24, 2015 – GKIDS, the distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced that it has entered a distribution agreement with Studio Ghibli for the North American rights to ONLY YESTERDAY, from studio co-founder and Academy Award® nominee Isao Takahata (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya). Long considered an unseen masterpiece by critics and fans, the film has never before been released in North America. GKIDS plans a theatrical release in early 2016, coinciding with the film’s 25th anniversary.
The deal was negotiated by Eric Beckman from GKIDS and Geoffrey Wexler from Studio Ghibli, with GKIDS taking all theatrical, non-theatrical, home video and television rights in North America. An English-language version is being produced by Studio Ghibli with cast to include Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Ashley Eckstein (HerUniverse, Star Wars Rebels) and Alison Fernandez (Orange is the New Black).
“With this 25th anniversary release, a broad new audience will now be able to discover what passionate supporters have known for years,” said David Jesteadt, GKIDS’ SVP of Distribution. “Only Yesterday is a groundbreaking classic, and further demonstration of Isao Takahata’s incredible legacy as a filmmaker.”
All images © 1991 Hotaru Okamoto – Yuko Tone – GNH
GKIDS and Studio Ghibli previously partnered on When Marnie Was There, currently in theaters and Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Academy Award®-nominated The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, and From Up on Poppy Hill. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for Studio Ghibli’s acclaimed library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections, including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and other titles.
It’s 1982, and Taeko is 27 years old, unmarried, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. While traveling by train to visit family in the country, memories flood back of her as a schoolgirl in 1966, and she starts to question whether she has been true to herself. Elegantly switching between her adult present and childhood flashbacks, Takahata brilliantly explores the drama, humor and enchantment of everyday life, in a poignant and achingly beautiful masterpiece from one of the world’s most revered animation studios. Considered a lost gem, the remarkable Only Yesterday was recently included in Time Out’s list of the “Best 100 Animated Movies Ever Made,” and counts Wes Anderson and Roger Ebert among its admirers. The film is directed by Isao Takahata, and produced by Toshio Suzuki. The English version is produced by Geoffrey Wexler and Studio Ghibli.
ABOUT STUDIO GHIBLI
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animation directors Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki and is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Takahata and Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli’s films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike, including an Academy Award® for Spirited Away, and Academy Award® nominations for Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya. In 2015, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Hayao Miyazaki with its Governors Award for lifetime achievement.
ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since 2009, the company has scored six Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations – second only to Disney – with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015. Current and upcoming releases include When Marnie Was There from director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli, 2014 Annecy winner Boy and the World from director Alê Abreu, and Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, from director Roger Allers and producer Salma Hayek. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS is longtime producer of the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying event and North America’s largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Gus van Sant, Christine Vachon, Henry Selick and James Schamus. www.gkidsfilms.com
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