In 1985, producer Toshio Suzuki co-founded Studio Ghibli with directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies), whom he worked with for many years. The author of Mixing Work with Pleasure: My Time at Studio Ghibli, who now heads this mecca of Japanese animation, produced The Boy and the Heron, which is in theaters in France from Wednesday, November 1.

The Japanese title is Kimitachi wa Do ikiru ka, which is often translated as "how do you live?" But, to better reflect its meaning, it should be translated as "what kind of person do you want to be?" or "how will you choose to live your life?" Many Japanese people carry this philosophical question within them and wonder about the meaning of their lives. The film was intriguing for them.

I think foreigners share the same questions. Westerners live in a world dominated by capitalism, which they see as a religion. They have lost the meaning of many things and are questioning themselves. As a result, many people are asking themselves the fundamental question of the meaning of life. The film is by no means a lesson from Miyazaki. He doesn't tell people how to live. He says: "This is my life. But what about you? How do you choose to live?" His message is more like an invitation to question.

There are too many messages broadcast on a daily basis. In Japan, there are a lot of blockbusters whose distributors bombard us with commercials. Promotion is excessive. It doesn't work with consumers anymore. Based on this observation, we came up with the idea of doing no advertising, capitalizing on Hayao Miyazaki's world-famous status. I wanted to see what would happen. In the end, the absence of promotion generated extra attention. There was a large audience and very positive reactions right from the start. I would add that the choice not to advertise is, in a way, linked to the story of the film.

If you want to make a film properly and without compromise, you need time. In the beginning, I didn't give Miyazaki any deadline. Paradoxically, this caused him a lot of stress. One day, he asked me: "When do you want me to finish?" In the final months, I finally set him a date, but he also thanked me by saying that not setting a deadline from the start had been a good decision.

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