Cinema East Film: 'Only Yesterday'

The next film of the Cinema East film series at Pickford Film Center (1318 Bay Street) is Only Yesterday, which screens on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 7:45 p.m., with a matinee screening at 11:00 a.m. More information and tickets can be found online.  

 

According to the Pickford’s website, Only Yesterday “is a masterpiece of time and tone, rich with humor and stirring emotion, and beautifully animated by one of the world’s most revered animation studios.”  

 

Only Yesterday is based on a manga published in 1988 called Omoide poro poro (or Memories Drop by Drop). The manga is a nostalgic look back at the life of a 10-year-old girl, Taeko, in 1966, the youngest of three girls in a family which includes a mother, father, and grandmother all living in the same house. Takahata’s film version combines elements from the manga with a different narrative frame using a new storyline, that of a 27-year-old Taeko in 1982.  

 

The film will be introduced by Annie Bower, a filmmaker, writer, and grocery store worker based in Bellingham. They have worked, volunteered, and introduced films for Pickford Film Center, including last year’s screening of Gregg Araki’s Nowhere for Third Eye Cinema, and their writing has appeared in Loud and Clear Reviews. 

 

The Cinema East film series is co-presented by Western Libraries and Pickford Film Center, with film selections curated by WWU librarian Jeff Purdue. This showing of Only Yesterday is also part of a special series of film screenings through the month of May devoted to the work of Studio Ghibli co-founder Takahata Isao.  

 

For more information about the Cinema East series, please see the PFC website, or contact Jeff Purdue at: purduej@wwu.edu, (360)-650-7750.  

 

All PFC theaters are ADA accessible with wheelchair seating, and closed captioning and assistive listening devices are available at the box office. For questions about or to request disability accommodation, please contact Meghan Schilling:meghan@pickfordfilmcenter.org.  

 

[Image Description: Still image from the animated film 'Only Yesterday' of a smiling woman carrying a suitcase in one hand and holding the hand of a little girl with her other hand. The little girl has wide eyes and looks surprised. They are both standing in the front of a classroom, with a chalkboard and desks in the background behind them.]