New York's IFC Centre to Hold Studio Ghibli Retrospective; North American Screenings to Follow

by Marc Saint-Cyr

A very special event for admirers of top-notch anime is set to arrive at the IFC Centre in New York this December. Studio Ghibli, one of the most beloved production companies in the Japanese animation industry, is the subject of a fresh retrospective that is being organized by the distributor GKIDS. Set to run at the IFC Centre from December 16th, 2011, to January 12th, 2012, the retrospective will consist of the fifteen films that came out of Studio Ghibli between 1984 and 2008 - the majority of which, of course, consisting of works from anime master Hayao Miyazaki. Beloved classics like "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," My Neighbor Totoro," "Porco Rosso," "Princess Mononoke," and "Spirited Away" will be shown along with notable works from other filmmakers like Isao Takahata's "Only Yesterday," "Pom Poko" and "My Neighbors the Yamadas," Yoshifumi Kondo's "Whisper of the Heart" and Hiroyuki Morita's "The Cat Returns." Thankfully, those who can't make it to New York to see these films on the big screen will get other opportunities throughout early 2012, as the program will be touring around the U.S. and Canada to major cities like Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington and Toronto, among others. On top of that, keep an eye open for releases of more Studio Ghibli - some of which will be shown for the first time in the U.S. What better way to alleviate that weighty wintertime depression than a colorful dose of anime magic?

For the full list of titles and a detailed schedule, head over to Crunchyroll.com!