Studio Ghibli Retrospective Features New 35mm Prints of Hayao Miyazaki Classics

Press release from American Cinematheque:

The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres is the exclusive Los Angeles venue for the G-Kids tour of a 20-year retrospective of the work of Japan's Studio Ghibli, renowned for their masterpieces of animation. The retrospective runs Thursday, January 26 to Sunday, February 12 and will include 14 Studio Ghibli feature films produced between 1984 and 2008, including Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award® winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle, and Kiki's Delivery Service.

Studio Ghibli, founded in Tokyo in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli's films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002, and in 2005 Miyazaki was named one of "the most influential people" by TIME magazine.

The American Cinematheque is thrilled to present a comprehensive retrospective of Studio Ghibli's films, including new 35mm prints of several films that have never been released in North America. The organization has had a long history of playing Studio Ghibli films, since holding a sneak preview screening of Kiki's Delivery Service. The Los Angeles engagement follows an enormously successful debut for the retrospective at New York's IFC Center. The tour continues Boston, Washington DC, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and other major markets.

The series will provide an opportunity to see Miyazaki's beloved favorites My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle In The Sky and Porco Rosso, as well as seldom-seen films by Takahata, such as Pom Poko, Only Yesterday and My Neighbors The Yamadas. Also included in this comprehensive program are the first Ghibli feature to be made by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata, Tomomi Mochizuki's Ocean Waves, Miyazaki protégé Yoshifumi Kondo's sole feature Whisper of the Heart and Hiroyuki Morita's sequel to the Kondo film, The Cat Returns.

Half of the films will be presented in the original Japanese language versions with English subtitles, and half will be dubbed in English for a more family-friendly experience. Please refer to the event details for information.

View this event on our Website [1]

ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences. Theatrical releases include Tomm Moore's Oscar® nominated The Secret of Kells, Michel Ocelot's acclaimed Azur & Asmar (with the Weinstein Company) and new 3D Tales of the Night, European Film Award Best Animated Feature winner Mia and the Migoo, and Nina Paley's multiple-award-winning Sita Sings the Blues. GKIDS has two films vying for an Academy Award® in the Best Animated Feature category this year: A Cat in Paris directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, and Oscar® winner Fernando Trueba's Chico & Rita, which Is being released under their newly formed LumaFilms label. GKIDS recently announced a deal to handle North American theatrical distribution of Oscar® winner Hayao Miyazaki's famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world's most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS is longtime producer of the New York Int'l Children's Film Festival, an Oscar®-qualifying event and North America's largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Susan Sarandon, Gus Van Sant, Jeffrey Wright, James Schamus, Uma Thurman, Matthew Modine, Michel Ocelot, and Christine Vachon.

About American Cinematheque
Established in 1981, the American Cinematheque is a 501 C 3 non-profit viewer-supported film exhibition and cultural organization dedicated to the celebration of the Moving Picture in all of its forms. At the Egyptian Theatre, the Cinematheque presents daily film and video programming which ranges from the classics of American and international cinema to new independent films and digital work. Exhibition of rare works, special and rare prints, etc., combined with fascinating post-screening discussions with the filmmakers who created the work, are a Cinematheque tradition that keep audiences coming back for once-in-a-lifetime cinema experiences. The American Cinematheque renovated and reopened (on Dec. 4, 1998) the historic 1922 Hollywood Egyptian Theatre. This includes a state-of-the-art 616-seat theatre housed within Sid Grauman's first grand movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard. The exotic courtyard is fully restored to its 1922 grandeur. The Egyptian was the home of the very first Hollywood movie premiere in 1922. In January 2005 the American Cinematheque expanded its programming to the 1940 Aero Theatre on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.