'The fandom pulled through': Sudbury's Studio Ghibli fans to have first film festival

Miranda MacLeod, theatre manager of Sudbury Indie Cinema and newly acquired Studio Ghibli fan, said she plans on watching every single film from the Japanese animation studio before hosting her own festival.

"It's kind of something I had put off for a long period in my life," she said.

MacLeod told CBC Sudbury her overdue marathon comes with a fresh perspective in her thirties and resonating with films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Studio Ghibli's first feature length project released in 1984.

"They're all so different, but they're all so charming and the art and stories behind them are beautiful."

Sudbury Indie Cinema announced this month they are working with patrons and local artisans to host a nine film festival taking place in mid-September.

The fandom seems huge in Sudbury.- Miranda MacLeod, Sudbury Indie Cinema theatre manager

Each standalone film from the Japanese studio have been recognized by fans for its animation, immersion, popular fantasy characters and emotional storylines.

MacLeod added her own journey through the films comes with a newfound appreciation of the iconic Japanese animated movies which include Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke.

"The fandom seems huge in Sudbury," she said.

"Everyone knows of these films and it's just something so different that we haven't done before, and I haven't really seen done in Sudbury."

An online crowdfunding page was set up earlier in August and reached half of its $5,000 goal in a day.

According to Sudbury Indie Cinema, they already secured all nine of their festival reels from GKIDS Films, the sole North American distributor of Studio Ghibli films for theatres.

MacLeod added her theatre will be one of the rare few to screen Studio Ghibli films back-to-back over a single weekend.

"Where theatres will play one film a month for a five or six month period, we're featuring films from the whole Studio Ghibli catalogue," she said.

'On everyone's mind right now,'

The idea for Sudbury's own Studio Ghibli festival also coincides with the upcoming anticipated release of The Boy and the Heron, which serves as director Hayao Miyazaki's final film.

The theatre launched the crowdfunding page a day before The Boy and the Heron's North American release date was revealed by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The latest Studio Ghibli film, already released in Japan, will also be the first animated and Japanese film to headline TIFF.

"We're going to do this regardless," she said.

"It just really works that Studio Ghibli films are on everyone's mind right now, which is very exciting."

Sudbury Indie Cinema added most sponsors, including the Sudbury Japanese Language Learners (SJLL), and Northern Gaming Events are fellow Studio Ghibli fans who approached them first to help bring the festival to life.

Themed eats

Takako Boyle, owner of Japanese eater Kako's Kitchen, will be the head caterers for the festival with Studio Ghibli-inspired dishes for hungry viewers.

Boyle, a childhood Studio Ghibli fan, said she played with ingredients to match the setting of each film.

"The movies are fun, but making the foods for them are even more fun," Boyle said.

"Totoro has traditional Japanese family foods like onigiri rice balls, we will make some Ponyo ramen noodles and mochi."

MacLeod said she isn't worried if the crowdfunding doesn't reach its goal close to the festival's start and it will still happen.

"I figured the fandom would pull through and there are a lot of people who wanted to come to this festival," she said.

She also plans on creating an annual Studio Ghibli festival with a fresh slate of animated films if this year's event works out.

For now, she added hosting an entire festival about Studio Ghibli marks her own official introduction into the Japanese animated film franchise.

"This is the opportunity I'm taking to watch them all and make sure there's not a single one that I have not seen."