The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 

Masterpieces from Studio Ghibli Full Festival Schedule
Tickets are available online and at the admission desk.
Full Festival Pass

The most purely Japanese of all the Ghibli films, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) is the final film made by Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata before his death in 2018. Based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a thousand-year-old Japanese folktale, it follows the story of the princess of the Moon who comes to Earth, where she is discovered and reared by a poor bamboo cutter. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, she is wooed by five suitors and even the Japanese Emperor himself, but she rejects them all to return to the Moon. Takahata presents the story in a magically beautiful and fluid style of animation that makes the story appear as if it is a moving traditional Japanese ink (sumi-e) or watercolor painting. Starring the voice talents of Chloë Grace Moretz (Kaguya), James Caan (the Bamboo Cutter), Mary Steenburgen (the Bamboo Cutter’s Wife), and Lucy Liu (Lady Sagami).
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZK2y9NAaNo
137 minutes; PG

All film screenings will be held in the Modern's auditorium. Tickets are $10; $8 for Friend-level Modern members; $7 for Associate-level Modern members and above. Cinephiles who plan to enjoy the weekend’s entire selection of films will receive a discount for pre-purchasing all of their tickets at once. 

Welcome to the Modern’s film festival, Masterpieces from Studio Ghibli. This year we are excited to present a festival showcasing six Ghibli films and one pre-Ghibli film from the animation masters who founded Studio Ghibli—Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. A highlight of our program is The Boy and the Heron, this year’s winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

All films in the Masterpieces from Studio Ghibli Film Festival will be introduced by Dr. Marc Hairston, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas. A professional space physicist, part-time anime scholar, and Fort Worth native, Hairston has hosted annual Japanese animation festivals at the Modern since 2014. He is one of the founding editors of Mechademia, the first academic journal focused on anime and manga studies and has written numerous scholarly articles about anime. With Dr. Pamela Gossin, also at UT Dallas, he has co-authored two books about anime and manga aimed at high-school-age readers, Cultural Guide to Anime and Manga (2023) and Exploring Anime and Manga (World of Art) (2024).