Thank you to everyone who came out last week to our first ever screening at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre! The turnout was fantastic and we could not thank everyone enough. The show must go on. Let’s have a look at what Trent Film Society is screening in the coming weeks.
This week we’ll be screening Hayao Miyazaki’s classic anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), part one of two animated features. After a short break during the week of October 2nd (no screening that week), we will return to our regularly scheduled screenings. We return with part two of our animation-theme on October 9th with Sylvain Chomet and Jacques Tati’s The Illusionist (2010). Both films hail from different areas of the world, namely Japan and France. They were released in separate decades thus offering Trent students and Peterboroughians different styles of animated storytelling.
Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind shies away from the incredibly cute and kid-friendly style that Western audiences have come to expect from modern Disney films. Miyazaki focuses instead on creating a world which touches on social issues that people of all cultures can sympathize with. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a more mature approach to the genre. It deals with serious themes such as the damaging effects war has on humans, as well as on the environment and animals who cohabitate our planet. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind follows the journey of Princess Nausicaä, the strong and independent female protagonist who attempts to unite both the human world and the natural world in everlasting harmony. Will she achieve her goals of bringing balance to her people and home, the Valley of the Wind? Or will external forces crush her hopes of healing the planet? Nausicaä is a different approach to the Miyazaki stories we are used to. Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, The Secret World of Arietty, and Ponyo do not come close to the excellent quality of this early film. Characters are voiced by Alison Lohman, Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Shia LeBeouf and others.
Come out to Artspace (378 Aylmer Street) on Wednesday, September 25th at 8pm for a viewing! The film is free as always. We look forward to seeing you there! For more information visit www.facebook.com/trentfilmsociety or email trentfilmsociety@gmail.com
