This February, we are delighted to screen The Boy and the Heron, the latest (and potentially last ever) feature from Studio Ghibli leader and legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. Nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Academy Awards, The Boy and the Heron has been hailed by critics as one of the best films of recent times – hearkening back to older classics in the Studio Ghibli canon, while also ascending to new heights of cinematic artistry and imagination.

We will screen both a dubbed version and a subbed version of The Boy and the Heron each day at Triskel Cinema, from Sunday 11 February to Wednesday 14 February. The dubbed version features English-language performances from actors such as Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale and Florence Pugh. The subbed version plays in the original Japanese with English subtitles.

Visually ravishing, sweeping in its scope, moving, funny, and deeply thoughtful, The Boy and the Heron finds Miyazaki in a reflective mood, as he meditates on themes of legacy, the past, and embracing the future. From a simple beginning, as young Mahito reels from the loss of his beloved mother and adjusts to his new home and family, this modern masterpiece transforms into a fantastical odyssey through a magical realm, complete with malevolent parakeet soldiers, weary sorcerers, fire-wielding witches and ornery grey herons.

In its original Japanese market, The Boy and the Heron is known as Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka. In English, Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka translates to How Do You Live – a fitting title, as this stunning work explores how we grapple with loss, live with our memories, and find our purpose.