Naoko YAMADA

Liz And The Blue Bird

リズと青い鳥

Nippon Animation   ³ 

Mizore’s last year in high school is coming to a close and she still has no clue what she wants to do afterwards. Together with her close friend Nozomi, she rehearses the musical piece “Liz And The Blue Bird” that challenges both their talent and their friendship. Naoko YAMADA’s fourth feature film captivates by its watercolor-style animations and nuanced characters.

リズと青い鳥
Rizu to aoi tori

Japan 2018

90 minutes

Director
Naoko YAMADA

Script
Reiko YOSHIDA based on a novel by Ayano TAKEDA

About Naoko YAMADA

Naoko YAMADA studied the art of oil painting at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. In 2004 she started working as an animator for Kyoto Animation. After directing several episodes of the anime series CLANNAD (2008) YAMADA made her chief directorial debut with the anime series K-ON! in 2009. Its international success led to many more projects and the two feature films K-ON! THE MOVIE (2011) and TAMAKO LOVE STORY (2014). Her biggest commercial success was the feature film A SILENT VOICE (2016 / NC ‘17), which won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation and was nominated for the Japanese Academy Award for Best Animation of the Year.