In 2016, much ink has been spilled about the strengths and failings of female representation in film. But while movies such as Tangerine and White Girl have diverted a traditional cinema gaze, and filmmakers like Ava DuVernay and Andrea Arnold are making waves, it’s worth noting that Studio Ghibli has had been down for the cause for decades.
Founder Hayao Miyazaki began serving up strong, complex, and inspiring female leads when Nausicaä took on surrealist environmental destruction in 1984; in the years since, the studio’s universe has been filled with iconic heroines. Film journalist Leigh Singer has paid homage to this 30 year commitment in her super cut The Heroines of Studio Ghibli, which features clips from 15 films. Singer admits in the video description that there were so many legends, she struggled to choose who to include. What a wonderful problem to have.
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Text Wendy Syfret