Film Screening:

Ponyo 

(Hayao Miyazaki, 2008, 101 min, Japan, in Japanese w/ English Subtitles, Color, Digital)

-- Introduced by Casey Herbert (AMI) and Eileen Cheng-yin Chow (AMES); Q&A to follow!

Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heartwarming and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale The Little Mermaid.

A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo's father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. In her quest to become human and reunite with Sosuke, Ponyo stumbles upon and releases her father's magical Water of Life and triggers a gigantic storm. Now balance must be restored to the world they all cherish.

-- Winner of Tokyo Anime Award for Animation of the Year and Asian Film Award for Best Composer!

"No animator captures the movement of tides and the deep physics of the sea as lyrically as Miyazaki, and the story's themes of rejuvenation and ecological balance carry a highly topical edge." -- Independent (UK)

Cost: Free and open to the public

Sponsors: The Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI), the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI), and the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES)