SHOULD the weather be rotten on Sunday, or if cinema is your weekend haven, you could spend the day at City Screen, York.

“It’s Super Sunday,” says marketing manager Dave Taylor.

“We’re having a bit of an anime bonanza; a documentary on bees; and two previews of an Oscar-worthy performance by York’s very own Dame Judi Dench.”

The feast of animation begins at 10.45am with Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi’s expressionistic, black-and-white film from 2007, Persepolis (12A), as part of City Screen’s season of World Cinema Matinées.

This touching coming-of-age story of an intelligent, outspoken girl growing up during the Iranian revolution will be repeated on Thursday at the same time.

City Screen starts a celebration of Studio Ghibli at 1pm with 2011’s From Up On Poppy Hill (U), Goro Miyazaki’s tender story of teenage love set amid Japan’s post-war boom in the year before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

This Anime double bill is completed at 3.15pm with a 25th anniversary screening of My Neighbour Toro (U), Hayao Miyazaki’s story of Satsuki and Mel, two young girls who find their new home stands by a mystical forest inhabited by a menagerie of fantastical creatures called Totoros.

After the 1pm screening of Markus Imhoot’s documentary More Than Honey (PG), Vicky Kindemba, from the wildlife charity Buglife, will take questions from the audience, just as she did after City Screen showed The Vanishing Of The Bees in 2009.

“There’s a particular local context to this event,” says Dave Taylor, who, when wearing his other hat, is the Green Party councillor for the Fishergate ward in York.

“Vicky lives in York, but moreover, the National Bee Unit is based at FERA, the Food and Environment Research Agency at Sand Hutton on the outskirts of York.

“The NBU/DEFRA has been very reluctant to take action on pesticides that are believed to have an influence on bee decline, similar to the authorities in the USA, but at odds with governmental agencies in EU countries, such as France and Germany, which have taken a stronger line to help bees.

“I hope Vicky will have answers to my questions as to whether bee health has improved in France and Germany since that time, compared to the UK and USA.”

City Screen’s Sunday previews of Philomena (12A), the latest Oscar tip for Dame Judi, will start at 10am and 5.55pm.

Directed by Dirty Pretty Things and The Queen director Stephen Frears, and co-written by Dench’s co-star Steve Coogan, this British/American film stars Dame Judi in the title role.

Philomena is an Irish mother seeking out the illegitimate son wrenched from her when he was three and sold to a rich American while she served in one of Ireland’s notorious convents. Coogan plays Martin Sixsmith, the BBC journalist who aids her with dogged tactics that lead them to Washington DC.

“Frears draws remarkable performances from this odd couple, whose earthy chemistry, coupled with a sharp script that tempers the harrowing aspects of this true story, make Philomena a true delight,” says Dave.

• For tickets, phone 0871 902 5726 or book online at picturehouses.co.uk