Michael speaks with Spanish director Pablo Berger about his critically-acclaimed and award-winning feature animation Robot Dreams, which is in UK cinemas from 22nd March.

Read Michael's review of the film here, and his feature on the animation process behind the film here.

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Directors Chiara Malta and Sebastien Laudenbach speak with Michael about their astounding new film, Chicken for Linda, which was a hit on the festival and awards circuit in 2023, and is screening around the UK in March, April and May.

Watch a trailer for Chicken for Linda here.

Chicken for Linda screens as part of the Made in Italy Festival at the Ciné Lumière on 23rd March. Tickets are available here.

You can also catch the film at the Cardiff Animation Festival, the Barbican Centre Family Film Club and Flatpack Film Festival.

Thanks to Matt Dinsdale for coordinating this interview, and to Stefania Bochicchio for translating the conversation.

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Michael speaks with director Jim Capobianco about his new film, The Inventor, and working in stop-motion for the first time after years working in hand-drawn and CG animation. They also speak about the film's themes of patronage, inspiration and creativity, as well as Jim's amazing work at Disney and Pixar (including his Oscar-nominated work on Ratatouille), and his longstanding relationship with Cartoon Saloon.

The Inventor is in UK cinemas now, screening exclusively at Vue Cinemas: https://www.theinventorfilm.com/

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Michael speaks with director Yuzuru Tachikawa about his new film, the coming-of-age jazz anime Blue Giant, which has just been released in the UK.

To hear the full interview with all the Japanese exchanges intact, fast forward to around the 30min mark,

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Recorded at the British Film Institute, as part of the London Short Film Festival and the BFI's 'Cartoon Saloon at 25' season, studio founders Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore and Paul Young reflect on the history of the studio after watching 20+ years of Cartoon Saloon's short film work.

This event was curated and hosted by our own Michael Leader. Find out more about the London Short Film Festival here and about the BFI's Cartoon Saloon season here.

For their help with this event, thank you to Charlotte Ashcroft at the LSFF, Susan Brophy and the team at Cartoon Saloon, and Justin Johnson, Kimberly Sheehan, Josh Glenn and Richard Pickard at the BFI.

Scroll back through our archive for a whole miniseries on the work of Cartoon Saloon - the Cartoon Salooniverse! As well as extra interviews with Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart, Nora Twomey, Paul Young and Will Collins.

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It's the end of the year and you know what that means: Lists! We're rounding up our favourite things of 2023. In this first part of a two-part Listmas special, it's a countdown of all the things specifically Japan that didn't get covered in the previous Japan episodes - think bars, food, and any other experiences, Ghibli-related or otherwise.

Join us on Patreon for ad-free and bonus episodes, Discord access and show footnotes and more: Patreon.com/ghibliotheque

Email us: ghibliotheque@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ghibliotheque and Instagram @ghibliotheque.pod.

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

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Spoiler warning!

After our spoiler-light episode on The Boy and the Heron last week, we just had to go deeper. So Michael, Jake and Steph reconvened for more of a play-by-play run-through of Hayao Miyazaki's highly anticipated, dense, complicated, wonderful new film.

We'd love to hear what you make of the Boy and the Heron for an upcoming 'mailbag' special! Send us your thoughts and theories at ghibliotheque@gmail.com.

Join us on Patreon for ad-free and bonus episodes, Discord access and show footnotes and more: Patreon.com/ghibliotheque

Email us: ghibliotheque@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ghibliotheque and Instagram @ghibliotheque.pod.

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

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Miyazaki is back! Michael, Jake and Steph return to the Ghibliotheque to discuss Hayao Miyazaki's first film in a decade, The Boy and the Heron - a beguiling and captivating film that has been described as a "semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship".

This is a dense film, so we're doing things a little differently here. This episode is in our standard Ghibliotheque format - context, followed by review. It's also standard length, and offers a 'spoiler light' commentary that doesn't delve too deep into its many surprises and stylistic left-turns. Tune into our next episode for a longer-form deep-dive into the film and its many layers and potential meanings.

Join us on Patreon for ad-free and bonus episodes, Discord access and show footnotes and more: Patreon.com/ghibliotheque

Email us: ghibliotheque@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ghibliotheque and Instagram @ghibliotheque.pod.

@MichaelJLeader – Michael

@jakehcunningham – Jake

@_stephwatts - Steph

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