The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) announced Sunday that Japanese entry Your Name. was selected as Best Animated Film for 2016. The critically acclaimed work of director Makoto Shinkai and producers CoMix Wave Films and Toho Co. Ltd. is the third-ever feature anime to win this award, beating out runner-up The Red Turtle from Michael Dudok de Wit and Studio Ghibli.
The winning film has been holding sold-out screenings all week at Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills for its Oscar qualifying run, presented by Funimation Films. The limited engagement ends Dec. 8. A nationwide release is planned for early 2017, following box office triumphs in Japan — where it is the highest grossing film of the year and second-highest grossing anime ever with ~$175 million — and China, where it just opened at No. 1 with $41 million.
“We consider Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. a true masterpiece and its selection for the prestigious Best Animated Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association only cements that fact,” said Gen Fukunaga, CEO and Founder of Funimation. “Funimation has been fortunate to work with Makoto Shinkai on this film and we are confident that U.S audiences will agree that it is one of the finest animated films of the decade.”
“Your Name is the epitome of excellence in animation and I have no doubt Makoto Shinkai’s name will be widely recognized across North America within the next few years,” added Mike DuBoise, EVP and COO of Funimation. “Congratulations to everyone at Toho and CoMix Wave Films for such a prestigious honor!”
The LAFCA, comprised of LA-based professional film critics working in print and electronic media, has been holding annual awards recognizing “outstanding cinematic achievement” since 1975. Your Name. and the other winners will be presented with their awards at the annual dinner on January 17 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City.
