Yoshitoshi Shinomiya's 'A New Dawn' Premieres at Berlin Film Festival
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.