Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, an anime feature film based on an autobiographical novel by acclaimed Japanese actor and media personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, won the Paul Grimault Award in the feature category of the 48th Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France on June 15.The Paul Grimault Award is the third award in the category, after the Crystal Award, the top prize, and the Jury’s Award. The is the second consecutive year that a Japanese film has won the award, following last year’s The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes directed by Tomohisa Taguchi.The festival’s official website describes Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window: “At little Totto-Chan’s Tomoe School during the Second World War, she learns what racism and intolerance are, and discovers the grim reality of war.”As reported, four Japanese films were included in this year’s official selection of feature films at the festival — Ghost Cat Anzu (French-Japanese co-production) directed by Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita, The Colors Within directed by Naoko Yamada, Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window directed by Shinnosuke Yakuwa, and The Imaginary by Yoshiyuki Momose.
Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, written/directed by Shinnosuke Yakuya (Doraemen TV anime and film series) at SHIN-EI ANIMATION, released in 337 theaters in Japan on December 8, 2023, making a sixth-place debut in the weekend box office ranking. The film ranked #3 in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.04/5.0 based on 334 reviews.
Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window trailer
Sources: “Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window” official Twitter, NHK©Tetsuko Kuroyanagi / 2023 “Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window” Film Partners
