Discover the new film SCARLET from Mamoru Hosoda, coming to theaters
Wolf Children
College student Hana falls in love with a “wolf man” and together they have two half-human,
half-wolf children, Ame and Yuki. The young family’s happy but humble life comes to an abrupt
end when the father is tragically killed during a hunt. After struggling to raise her children
in the busy city, Hana boldly decides to move to a dilapidated house in the countryside, in
hopes that her children may one day decide their own path to happiness – whether “human” or
“wolf.”
This heart-wrenching modern fairy tale is a staggering work of beauty and emotion from Academy
Award®-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda. Rich with gorgeous animation and set to a poignant
musical score, Wolf Children is a sweeping tale about self-discovery and the bonds of family.
Summer Wars
Kenji is a shy, part-time moderator for OZ, the virtual reality world that powers everyday life,
until pretty and popular Natsuki recruits him to be her fake boyfriend. While posing as an
affluent suitor to Natsuki’s family, Kenji finds that a rogue A.I. program has stolen his online
identity, and Kenji is accused of hacking OZ and causing real-world catastrophes. As the
destruction in OZ throws Natsuki’s family into disarray, Kenji must unite his newfound
connections to overcome an impending cyber apocalypse.
Against a backdrop of stunning countryside vistas and virtual spaces bursting with color, Summer
Wars is a timeless epic that explores life in the digital age from Academy Award®-nominated
director Mamoru Hosoda (BELLE).
The Girl who leapt through Time
Makoto is a typical teenage girl who spends most of her days slacking off with friends. One day
while rushing to meet her aunt, she nearly gets hit by a train, but at the last second, finds
herself jumping backwards in time to before the accident. She immediately makes use of her
newfound ability to re-do every minor inconvenience– from poor exam results to awkward
confessions of love. However, when faced with the consequences of tampering with time, Makoto
must do everything she can to avoid a dire future that can't be reversed.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a beloved early film from Mamoru Hosoda, the Academy
Award-nominated director behind BELLE, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and more. Hosoda weaves
together the timeless, breathtaking visuals he is known for with a tender-hearted story of a
girl navigating first love, time travel, and the perilous choices that come with both.
About Mamoru Hosoda
Mamoru Hosoda was born in Toyama, Japan in 1967. Trained as an oil painter at Kanazawa University of Arts and Crafts, Hosoda honed his considerable skills working at famed anime production houses such as Toei and Studio Ghibli. In 2003, he directed “SUPERFLAT MONOGRAM,” a video for Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer collection in collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami. Hosoda established his name in feature animation in 2006 with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which became a long-running box office hit and earned numerous awards. Hosoda’s subsequent films further cemented his reputation both in Japan and abroad with award-winning titles including Summer Wars, Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, and Mirai, which was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature in 2018. Hosoda, along with longtime collaborator and producer Yuichiro Saito, co-founded Studio Chizu, the animation house that has produced his works since 2011.
About GKIDS
GKIDS is the Academy Award-winning producer and distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world. After an astounding 13 Best Animated Feature nominations, the company took home the Oscar in 2024 for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s acclaimed feature, The Boy and the Heron. The company’s previous nominations include The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, Wolfwalkers in 2021, and The Boy and the Heron in 2024.
For more than a decade, GKIDS’ influence on cinema has redefined the perception of animation as an artistic medium on par with live-action film through its stewardship of the Studio Ghibli catalog and by introducing American audiences to the critically-acclaimed films of other master filmmakers from around the world such as Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, Belle), Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Wolfwalkers), Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine), Makoto Shinkai (Weathering With You), Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), Alberto Vázquez (Unicorn Wars) and Masaaki Yuasa (Inu-Oh, The Night is Short, Walk on Girl), among countless others.
Also, GKIDS is the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions.