Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli is one of the most well respected animation companies in the world. Founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli has produced some of Japanese highest grossing films of all time. In 2001 Miyazaki’s masterpiece Spirited Away won the Oscar for best animation, introducing Japanese anime to an international audience. 

Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli is one of the most well respected animation companies in the world. Founded in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli has produced some of Japanese highest grossing films of all time. In 2001 Miyazaki’s masterpiece Spirited Away won the Oscar for best animation, introducing Japanese anime to an international audience. 

The studio is known for it’s strict “no cuts” policy, and its refusal to compromise is what makes it so unique. If you watch a series of Ghibli films, you’ll notice similar themes and imagery throughout. They often have female leads and characters with multiple forms and identities, are filled with fantastical elements and dreams, and reflect Miyazaki love of planes and trains. 

Studio Ghibli films are also famous for their hand drawn animations, and even when the studio went digital, the imagery retained its rich, emotive and painterly signature look. 

At the 2013 Venice Film Festival, Hayao Miyazaki announced The Wind Rises would be his final film before retiring from filmmaking, and in August 2014, Studio Ghibli announced it would halt production after 29 years. 

Hopefully this won’t be the end of the Ghibli legacy, however this Saturday on Rialto Channel you can enjoy Miyazaki’s swansong The Wind Rises. 

Not that you can tell from my family friendly picks this week, but February is actually the Month of Sin here on Rialto Channel. There are plenty of wicked films to indulge in such as Adult World staring John Cusack and Emma Roberts, and Sunlight Jr staring Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon in excellent form. The month wraps up with one of the most controversial and sinful films of 2014, Nymphomaniac: Vol I and Vol II. You can read more about these films over the coming weeks. 

Here are my picks for the week: 

The Wind Rises
Starring: Voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Screening: Rialto Selection, Saturday 7^th February, 8.30pm 

Nominated for best animated feature film at the 2014 Oscars, The Wind Rises, is darker and more somber than your average family friendly Studio Ghibli tale. A mix of biography, romance and drama, The Wind Rises tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter during World War II. Miyazaki doesn’t underestimate his audience or shy away from difficult subject matter as the film touches on the disastrous Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the depression, the tuberculosis epidemic, and Japan’s entry into World War II. Intelligent, moving and beautifully animated, this is a remarkable film from Miyazaki, one that caters to both an older and younger audience.

A Letter to Momo
Starring: Amanda Pace, Stephanie Sheh & Fred Tatasciore
Directed by: Hiroyuki Okiura
Screening: Saturday 7^th February, 6.25pm 

Screening before The Wind Rises on Saturday is the work of another Japanese anime screenwriter and director Hiroyuki Okiura. It took Okiura seven years to make this hand drawn production about displacement and emotional upheaval that premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. The film tells the story of eleven year old Momo who relocates from Tokyo to the small island Shio with her mother after the death of her father.

Momo struggles to fit into her new home until she encounters three supernatural “imps” living in her attic. These distinctive looking creatures help Momo deal with the unimaginable grief of losing a parent. This is a sweet and moving portrait of grief, and like the works of Studio Ghibli, a well crafted and executed animation. 

The Congress
Starring: Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Harvey Keitel & Jon Hamm
Directed by: Ari Folman
Screening: Rialto Incredible Strange, Friday 6^th February, 8.30pm 

In this ambitious sci–fi movie, Israeli director Ari Folman (Waltz With Bashir) delivers a fascinating indictment on Hollywood and technology. Robin Wright stars as herself, an actress in her mid 40s, trying to find work. Unlike herself though, the Robin Wright in this film is lambasted by her agent and a studio executive for making bad role choices after her success in The Princess Bride and Forest Gump, and the only thing left for her career is to digitize herself, allowing the studio to then use her as an actress whenever and however they want. An actor who isn’t scanned will be wiped from film history, but if Wright does agree to be scanned, she can never work again – the studio own her image. Folman presents us with a unique view of the studio system and treatment of women in Hollywood – as well as a warning about our growing dependence on technology. It’s not perfect, but it sure is thought provoking.