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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki: The Influences and Inspiration Behind the Iconic Films
This book offers a roadmap to the fantastical universe of Japanese animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. Film writer Nicolas Rapold charts the filmmaker’s inspirations, from Pippi Longstocking, reimagined as a swashbuckling pirate-grandma in Castle in the Sky, to the Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama, seen on screen in Spirited Away as the phantasmagorical bathhouse. Frances Lincoln, £25
David Lynch: His Work, His World
Scenes from Twin Peaks: The Return in David Lynch: His Work, His World
In the wake of director David Lynch’s death at the start of the year, author Tom Huddleston has written a chronology of his creative output with insights into his inner life, his long-term practice of transcendental meditation and the sheer breadth of his output, from blues albums to forays into furniture design. Frances Lincoln, £35
Pedro Almodóvar: The Last Dream
Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar switches medium this month with the publication of 12 new short stories. The book is a “fragmentary autobiography”, bringing together personal reflections, including the story about his mother’s death for which the book is named, and fictional vignettes. Vintage, £9.99
Jean-Luc Godard’s Unmade and Abandoned Projects
Jean-Luc Godard’s Unmade and Abandoned Projects reveals the director’s notes © Michel Dixmier Collection
French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard once suggested that the ideas and scraps of script found in Hollywood screenwriters’ rubbish bins would probably produce more interesting films than the ones that were actually made. Accordingly, cinema historian Michael Witt has studied 380 incomplete projects from Godard’s 70-year career, such as a documentary short, Parenthèses, developed weeks before his death. Bloomsbury Academic, £170
A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda
This biography spans the three careers of film director Agnès Varda: her start as a portrait photographer in Paris, her ascent to genre-defining filmmaker of the French New Wave, and her last act as an installation artist who debuted at the Venice Biennale at the age of 75. WW Norton & Company, £13.99