LONDON: Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” has become the first Japanese work to win the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for best animated film.

In the new Studio Ghibli movie, a boy embarked on an epic journey guided by a mysterious heron into a world shared by the living and the dead after losing his mother during World War II.

Before receiving the BAFTA prize at an award ceremony in London on Sunday, Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years captured the Golden Globe Award in the animated picture category in January and two Annie Awards for best character animation and storyboarding, respectively, on Saturday.

Attention is focused on whether it will take home the best animated feature prize at next month’s Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, for which it has been nominated.

At the BAFTA ceremony, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” a biographical film about the man known as the “father of the nuclear bomb,” won seven prizes, including best film and best direction.

In the documentary category, “20 Days in Mariupol,” a film about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was chosen.

JIJI Press