Fifteen exciting animated feature films at the PFA Theater in Berkeley
Thursday, June 2, 2005 through Thursday, June 30, 2005

The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive is very happy to present a series of fifteen exciting anime-Japanese animated films-from Studio Ghibli, producers of some of the world's most popular and critically acclaimed animation. The series includes films special June 9 screenings of Hayao Miyazaki's newest film, Howl's Moving Castle, which opens comercially on June 10, as well as Miyazaki's Oscar-winning film Spirited Away. The films in the series (with the exception of a free matinee screening of The Cat Returns on June 5) will be presented in their original Japanese versions with English subtitles.

Ghibli, an Italian word for a powerful Saharan wind, was the name chosen for the studio founded in 1984 by master animators Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, and Ghibli releases have been celebrated worldwide for combining dazzling visual artistry, sophisticated and emotionally resonant imaginary worlds, and concern for social and environmental issues. Director Miyazaki has found delighted fans around the world for his works, ranging from the studio's first release, Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind, to children's favorites My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, to wonderful adventures Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and Princess Mononoke, and Takahata's evocative, engaging films Pom Poko, My Neighbors the Yamadas, and Grave of the Fireflies are esteemed for their beauty, compassion, and humor.

Programs will be screened from Thursday, June 2 through Thursday, June 30, 2005 at the PFA Theater, located at 2575 Bancroft Way, on the southern edge of the University of California campus. General admission to these screenings is $8 for one film and $12 for double bills. With the exception of The Cat Returns, which will be presented at a free matinee screening at 2 pm on Sunday, June 5, all films will be presented in their original Japanese versions, with English subtitles. Tickets are available from 11 am to 5 pm at the Berkeley Art Museum admissions desk, 2626 Bancroft Way, evenings beginning May 31 at the PFA Theater box office, or by telephoning (510) 642-5249. The 6 p.m. screening on Thursday, June 9 of Howl's Moving Castle is sold out. A matinee screening has been added on that date, at 3 pm.

Times, titles, and brief descriptions of the films follow. For complete program notes, please see
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/pfa_programs/ghibli/index.html