It’s been ten years since Hayao Miyazaki — the world’s greatest animator — released his last film, The Wind is Rising, and announced his retirement. Happily he changed his mind, and will unveil How Do You Live? later this year. There is no better time to revisit the spellbinding fairy tales which have enchanted audiences for four decades and made Studio Ghibli the most revered animation studio in the world.
In the first installment of our complete Ghibli retrospective we focus on the years 1984-1999. These first dozen films, including many of the studio’s most beloved titles, will screen across spring break, March 13-25. Each title will screen twice, once as a matinee in an English language dub, and then again, the following evening, in the original Japanese with English subtitles. All ages are welcome!
Fans will need no encouragement to dive back into these lovely movies on the big screen. Newcomers are invited to expect a fantastical cinema imbued with a palpable sense of the sublime, featuring plucky, curious heroines, fabulous contraptions, endearing, mythical creatures, and a living, breathing world which is both familiar and thrillingly unexpected.
— Tom Charity, VIFF Year-Round Programmer
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Stay tuned for details on Part 2 of Studio Ghibli Forever!
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Miyazaki's first film as writer-director (based on his own successful manga) is an extraordinarily rich fantasy film, an eco-allegory set in a feudal, toxic future and a spirited adventure movie.
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Castle in the Sky
An island in the sky? The story of a young boy who sees a girl floating down from the sky. He comes to her aid in her flight from sky pirates, the army and secret agents. Dynamic, imaginative family entertainment in a classic vein of fantasy adventure.
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Kiki's Delivery Service
In keeping with tradition, 13-year-old witch Kiki dusts off her broom and flies away from home for a year of independence and self-discovery in the big city. Her only companion is her beloved black cat, Jiji...
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Only Yesterday
A wistful, lyrical film about a young woman escaping the city and taking stock of her life at 27. Visiting relatives in the countryside, Taeko is enthusiastic about helping out on the farm, but she's also preoccupied with memories of her childhood.
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Grave of the Fireflies
After their mother is killed in an air raid, and with their father serving Japan during WWII, Seita and his little sister Setsuko are forced to fight for survival in the devastated countryside. Rated PG for violence; frightening scenes.
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My Neighbor Totoro
Two little girls and their father move into a beautiful old house in the countryside. Largely left to fend for themselves, Mei and her big sister Satsuki encounter a strange and beautiful world of forest sprites. Miyazaki's most beloved film.
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Porco Rosso
Pigs will fly! This spirited adventure yarn features an anti-fascist flier (who happens to look like a pig) tracking sky pirates over the Adriatic in the 1930s. An exhilarating romp with a melancholy undertow - and amazing flying machines!
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Ocean Waves
Taku and his best friend Yutaka are headed back to school for what looks like another uneventful year. But they soon find their friendship tested by the arrival of Rikako, a beautiful new transfer student from Tokyo...
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My Neighbours the Yamadas
Takashi Yamada and his wacky wife Matsuko navigate their way through the ups and downs of work, marriage, and family life with a sharp-tongued grandmother who lives with them, a teen son who wishes he had cooler parents, and a pesky daughter.
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Whisper of the Heart
A lovely change of pace from Studio Ghibli, this is a teenage first-love story, set in a realistically observed modern day Tokyo. Bookish schoolgirl Shizuku meets her soul mate with a little help from a portly cat. "A beautiful film." Time Out
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Princess Mononoke
A mystical fight between humans and the Animal Gods of the forest. Ashitaka, the last prince of a dying race, struggles to find a way for both sides to co-exist. But the fighting only becomes more and more bloody and all hope seems to be lost…
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