BUY TICKETS Saturday, April 25th Doors 6:30 | Show 7:30 $20 Suggested Donation Citizens for a Healthy Community Annual Fundraiser featuring: Hayao Miyazaki’s award-winning anime film: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) was the first of Hayao Miyazaki’s personal animated features as writer-director, and has proven to be one of his most enduring works. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world of the distant future in which the “Seven Days of Fire” have destroyed much of human civilization and the technology that supported it. Most of the land is covered by the Fukai, or Sea of Corruption – a fungus-like forest poisonous to humans and populated by vast populations of insect mutations. One small pocket of humanity exists in the Valley of the Wind, where the spores of the fukai cannot settle and grow. Here, a warrior princess named Nausicaa uses her natural empathic ability to communicate with the insect species of the fukai to protect the peaceful people of the Valley. Nausicaa is drawn into a massive struggle between two other people-states, Tolmekia and Pejite, over a giant bioweapon from the ancient war, called a God Warrior. More than just an environmentally-aware fantasy tale, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind touches on themes of responsibility and redemption, and contains elements that would become repeating motifs in all of Miyazaki’s work: flying imagery, strong female characters, and variations on Japanese folklore. Miyazaki borrowed the name Nausicaa from Homer’s Odyssey, and the brave Greek princess who rescues Odysseus. Elements of Nausicaa’s nature would be familiar to those aware of a traditional Japanese folk tale called The Princess Who Loved Insects, about a medieval girl who ignores her position, family, and duties because of a fascination with garden insects.
The Paradise Theatre is a non-profit performing arts venue that builds community through educational events, film, theatre, and live music.
