Yoshitoshi Shinomiya's 'A New Dawn' Premieres at Berlin Film Festival
A painter with no prior feature directing experience earned a Berlinale competition slot for a hand-drawn meditation on cultural heritage and environmental change, a rare path in an industry dominated by studio-trained directors.
Reporting from 1 sources: The Hollywood Reporter Anime.
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.
Shinomiya built his reputation as a visual collaborator on Shinkai's breakout hit and on Sunao Katabuchi's award-winning film before turning to his own original project. He said the direct trigger for 'A New Dawn' came when a field near his studio was covered with solar panels, and his daughter mistook the reflective surface for the sea. That moment of misalignment between memory and reality became the film's central tension.
The film's title refers to a mythical firework named after the Japanese concept of 'Shuhari,' which Shinomiya traces to 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyu. The three characters mean to follow, to break, and to separate, describing stages of mastery that end with departure. Shinomiya said the film's protagonist must reinterpret his father's technique because the sea where the firework was meant to bloom has been filled in by land reclamation. Solar panels in the film serve as a substitute reflective surface.
Shinomiya acknowledged the influence of Studio Ghibli's 'Pom Poko' on his depiction of tanuki, calling it an unavoidable reference for any anime artist drawing raccoon dogs. He also credited Shinkai with teaching him the importance of rhythmic editing and balance in filmmaking, beyond just visual strength.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.