Jeddah’s Hayy Jameel Cinema celebrates Studio Ghibli’s films

The upcoming season includes screenings of Japanese animated films.

It’s time to get Spirited Away. The award-winning Studio Ghibli is being celebrated at Hayy Cinema at Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. So whether you love or are learning about the Japanese animation studio, here’s how to join the film fun.

Studio Ghibli is based in Koganei, Tokyo. The films include My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, known as the Walt Disney of Japane animation, is behind the films, which have met with critical and commercial success.

Spirited Away is being screened on 22, 23, 24, 28, 30 and 31 December. The story follows the 10-year-old girl, Chihiro. After her parents are turned into pigs, she wants to enter the spirit world. She takes a job at a magical bathhouse and works to get her parents back.

Howl’s Moving Castle is being screened on 20, 23 and 29 December. The film is based on the book of the same name, which was written by the British author Diana Wynne Jones. The story is set in a fictional kingdom and during a war. A witch puts a spell on the young girl Sophie, and she is turned into an elderly woman.

Prior to the release of The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki had teased retirement as far back as 2013. Yet his creative embers refused to die. His spirit, like the soot sprites in Spirited Away, danced around retirement before embarking on what he now called his “final” journey,The Boy and the Heron. The film is being screened on 20, 22, 28, 30 and 31 December. The film follows a boy named Mahito Maki during World War II. After his mother dies, he finds an abandoned tower and enters a fantastical world with a heron.

Hayy Jameel will also be hosting special events. Look out for drawing workshops, prizes and giveaways. The Studio Ghibli season runs until 31 December

GO: Follow @hayyjameel on Instagram for more information.