Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Friday, June 16 - Thursday, July 13, 2023

The debut film from Hayao Miyazaki, NAUSICAÄ is considered by many to be his masterwork — and there are few films, animated or otherwise, of such sweeping scope and grandeur. Set in a devastated future world decimated by atmospheric poisons and swarming with gigantic insects, NAUSICAÄ is the story of a young princess, both brave and innocent, whose love for all living things and passionate determination to understand the processes of nature lead her into terrible danger, sacrifice, and eventual triumph.

Like most Studio Ghibli films, there is neither good nor evil, but conflicting viewpoints, weaknesses, and power struggles. Throughout the film, Miyazaki’s animation is awe-inspiring; the depiction of the poisoned forest in particular is a thing of transcendent beauty. Once the hallucinogenic strangeness of shape and color has been accepted, there is light, growth and life everywhere. Huge dragonfly-like creatures are accompanied by wonderful, evocative sounds of flight and movement. The lethal fungus plants glow, shimmer and shed spores like silent gleaming snowfalls. This is a film not to be missed.

Presented by GKIDS.

Screening as part of our series A Studio Ghibli Summer !

Previously screened as part of our Winter 2022 series, “Waverly Midnights: Late-Night Favorites.”

All screenings 5:00 p.m. and later will be presented in Japanese with English subtitles. Morning and afternoon screenings will be presented in English.

  • Country Japan
  • Year 1984
  • Running Time 116 minutes
  • Distributor GKIDS
  • Director Hayao Miyazaki
  • Writer Hayao Miyazaki (comic & screenplay), Cindy Davis Hewitt (English adaptation), Donald H. Hewitt (English adaptation)
  • Editor Naoki Kaneko, Tomoko Kida, ShÕâji Sakai
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.