In the waning months of World War II, Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and his younger sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi) are orphaned after their mother is killed from an American air raid in Kobe, Japan. The siblings move in with their aunt, but when the added stress from additional mouths to feed causes an argument, Seita takes his sister to move into a bomb shelter, where the pair struggle to survive on their own. A delicate work of animation from Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata, Grave of the Fireflies is a searing examination of war from a child’s perspective.
Presented in partnership with American Cinematheque.