On November 23 (Sat), a screening of “Mai Mai Miracle” was held at NTT CRED Hall No. 1 from 10:00 a.m.

This film is an animated adaptation of the autobiographical novel “Mai Mai Shinko,” written by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Nobuko TAKAGI about her own childhood. The film is set in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the 1950s and depicts the days spent by the imaginative Shinko with a transfer student, Kiiko and her other friends, and has been loved by many fans for many years, including a screening this year on November 21 (Thu) at Shinjuku Piccadilly in Tokyo to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

After the screening, Director KATABUCHI took the stage. Accompanied by Tomoko NISHIZAKI from the Hiroshima Film Commission as the interviewer, a talk show was held. When Ms. NISHIZAKI introduced Director KATABUCHI, who has participated in the Hiroshima International Film Festival every year since 2011, as the festival's "permanent regular," the audience responded with thunderous applause.

Director KATABUCHI spoke about his connection to Hiroshima, mentioning that he first visited the city 14 years ago for a stage greeting. “The Salon Cinema at Takanobashi, with Mazda car seats and angels on the ceiling, became my foundational experience of Hiroshima. My desire to observe this city more deeply eventually led to the creation of ‘In This Corner of the World’,” he shared.

Ms. NISHIZAKI asked, “Is the story of Shinko also connected to ‘In This Corner of the World.’?” “Shinko was born after the war, but her mother married during the war and had a baby. In 1945, Suzu-san in ‘In This Corner of the World’ was 20 years old, and TAKAGI-san’s mother was 19. Director KATABUCHI said, “Mai Mai Miracle” is also a film that cannot be separated from the war. He also introduced an episode in which a dandelion is depicted in the film as an item that connects the two stories.

After the talk show, the pilot version of the next film, “The Mourning Children: Nagiko and the Girls Wearing Tsurubami Black” was screened. The film depicts people 1,000 years ago living in the midst of a plague. Mr. NISHIZAKI asked, “I think Director KATABUCHI only depicts what has been proven, but did you experiment in any way?” Director KATABUCHI replied, “I determined the size of the wheels of an ox cart and adjusted the speed at which the oxen walked, and I farmed mosquito larvae in the studio. This behind-the-scenes look at the production process in pursuit of detailed depiction heightened the anticipation for the full-length film.