in-person lecture

Godzilla in focus: The evolution of japan's atomic monster

date & time

Wednesday, july 30, 2025
7PM-8:30PM (PDT)

admission is free, registration is required

Click here to Register

Why did Godzilla emerge to attack Japan in 1954? How and why did the monster later become a savior that defends Japan from other monsters---and then, even later, begin attacking Japan again? Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, authors of Godzilla: The First 70 Years (Abrams Books, 2025), explain the creative decision-making behind the scenes at Toho Studios that has shaped and influenced Godzilla's evolution from atomic avatar to kaiju hero and back again, across the monster's seven-decades-long history. 

Copies of Godzilla: The First 70 Years (retail $75) will be available for purchase from on-site vendor Chevalier's Books. This large format, heavily illustrated volume is a tribute to Godzilla’s creators and costars—the filmmakers, special-effects wizards, cast members, even the stuntmen inside the monster suit—and an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes artistry involved in bringing Godzilla to cinematic life. The authors will sign books purchased at the event, as well as copies brought from home. 

About Lecturers:

Steve Ryfle
Steve Ryfle is a former Los Angeles Times reporter. His journalism, criticism, and writing have been published in Cineaste, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Criterion Current, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and many other publications. He is coauthor, with Ed Godziszewski, of Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, From Godzilla to Kurosawa (Wesleyan University Press) and the forthcoming book Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History (Abrams Books). He has written, produced, and narrated many audio commentaries and other materials for home video releases. He cowrote, with Joal Ryan, the NY Emmy-winning feature documentary Miracle on 42nd Street (2018).

Ed Godziszewski
Ed Godziszewski is coauthor, with Steve Ryfle, of Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, From Godzilla to Kurosawa (Wesleyan University Press) and the forthcoming book Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History (Abrams Books). He is the longtime Editor and Publisher of Japanese Giants magazine and has written for Fangoria and other publications. He has contributed audio commentaries, essays and other materials to numerous home video releases. With Steve Ryfle, he cowrote and coproduced the documentary film Bringing Godzilla Down to Size.