The Gateway Film Center, Columbus’s non-profit theater, has received the rare honor of being one of the first places to present the entire Studio Ghibli collection in the United States. Studio Ghibli is a Tokyo-based animation studio that creates and produces anime films, television shows, and advertisements. It has produced eight of the 15 most profitable animated movies in Japan. Since Jan. 1, the Gateway Film Center has been showing one Studio Ghibli film a week, in order of release, with most movies being presented both subtitled and dubbed. This series will be running at the theater through May and includes many Studio Ghibli films. Established in 1985, Studio Ghibli was the result of famous co-founder and director Hayao Miyazaki’s success working on the film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” Miyazaki retired from the studio in 2014, which led to a break in production. Several Studio Ghibli films have won awards, including four Japan Academy Prizes for animation of the year, three Animage Anime Grand Prix awards, one Academy Award and five nominations. The 2001 movie, “Spirited Away,” is the studio’s highest grossing movie, raising $290 million worldwide. “Spirited Away” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002. Since, 1996 some of the company’s movies have been distributed internationally by Disney. Guerrilla Kids International Distribution Syndicate (GKIDS) is another international distributor associated with Studio Ghibli. The distributor focuses on distributing animated film, mainly to North American audiences. By working with GKIDS, the Gateway Film Center has been able to release some of these films, including the 1991 production, “Only Yesterday,” which had yet to be distributed in the U.S. GKIDS plans to take “Only Yesterday” nationwide throughout February, with the Gateway Film Center’s premiere set for February 27. The dubbed version of the film features Star Wars star, Daisy Ridley, voicing the main character. Other famous American actors have dubbed voices for Studio Ghibli films before, including, Anne Hathaway, Gillian Anderson and Matt Damon. For specific Studio Ghibli film date and time information, visit Gateway Film Center’s site.
