The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮), 2026 Japan Documentary Film Award (JDFA) winner, screening in Pittsburgh on September 23.

The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮), which was named the 2026 Japan Documentary Film Award (JDFA) winner in August, will play at the University of Pittsburgh on September 23, part of the SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest.

The Japan Council of the University of Pittsburgh and SCREENSHOT: Asia are pleased to announce the winner of the fifth biennial University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award: The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory (『対話のゆくえ 京都大学吉田寮』), directed by Keizo Fujikawa. The film will be screened with the filmmaker in attendance as a special part of the SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Festival. An award ceremony and screening with the filmmaker will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 7:00pm in David Lawrence Hall 121 on campus at the University of Pittsburgh.

The winning film, The Yoshida-ryo Dormitory, takes viewers inside Yoshida-ryō, Kyoto University’s storied self-governing student dormitory, as its residents confront the university’s plans to remove them from a building they have administered themselves for over a century. True to its Japanese title, 対話のゆくえ, which speaks to the continued political importance of dialogue, the film patiently observes the dormitory’s culture of consensus at work: the meetings and negotiations, the compressed history of conflict and litigation, and the recurring celebrations of the dorm festival that bind the students to one another and to the space they are fighting to preserve. With deep roots in the collectivism of the student protest era, the film pushes against familiar stereotypes of Japanese conformity by focusing on the eccentric and communitarian among us, and it speaks directly to questions being asked of universities everywhere: student autonomy, institutional memory, and the reach of administrative power. As one judge noted, the film “captures the essence of the universal, fundamental issue of the world we live in by digging deep into a very local, small world.”

Established by Pitt’s Japan Council to recognize exemplary documentary films promoting the understanding of Japan and Japanese culture, the University of Pittsburgh Japan Documentary Film Award is supported by generous endowments from Japanese donors to promote Japan Studies and deepen cross-cultural understanding at the University of Pittsburgh and across the region. This year’s award marks the tenth anniversary of the program’s founding.

The film starts at 7:00 pm, is followed by an award ceremony with the director, and is free and open to the public in room 121 David Lawrence Hall in Oakland (map).

1957 Kurosawa film Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城) in Pittsburgh, from September 25.

The 1957 Akira Kurosawa film Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城) will play in Pittsburgh from September 25, part of the Row House Lawrenceville's Shakespeare Adaptations series.

Akira Kurosawa retells Macbeth by replacing lords and kings with samurai and emperors in this rendition set in medieval Japan. Brutal, suspenseful, and visually stunning — this is by far one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever made for the screen.

On the 26th the theater will host a Throne of Blood with Shakespeare Monologues special event.

Our friends from Shakespeare in the Park will introduce this amazing adaptation of Macbeth and perform a few monologues before the show! A portion of all ticket sales will go back to supporting their nonprofit mission.

Tickets are available online. The Row House Lawrenceville is a single-screen theater located at 4115 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).

2025 Korean film 3670 in Pittsburgh, September 22, part of SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest.

The 2025 Korean film 3670 returns to Pittsburgh on September 22, part of this year's SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest. A synopsis, from SCREENSHOT:

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual situations

3670 is a group text code for a meet-up of a special club of friends. For Cheol-jun (Cho You-hyun), a young North Korean defector building a life in Seoul, it becomes the address of a self he has never been able to show in public. By day he works part-time at a convenience store, crams for the college entrance exam, and depends on the fellow defectors who have taken him in. But there is a secret he cannot let even his closest friends know: he is gay. After a chance encounter with another gay man, he is pulled into Seoul’s queer social world: new friends and the messy thrill of wanting someone who may want someone else. Park Joon-ho’s debut keeps the melodrama low and moves with Cheol-jun’s emotional weather, as he experiences the cruelties and beauty of friendship.

It plays from 7:00 pm at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online. University of Pittsburgh students, faculty, and staff can use promo code ASIAN2026 to get free tickets, but must show valid university ID at the door. 

Opafé, "artisan bakery" from Opal Group, to hold soft opening tomorrow.

Opafé is holding its soft opening tomorrow on the South Side. Described as a "bakery focused on artisan croissants, it is located at 2720 SIdney St. (map), and comes from the team behind Top Pot, Okane Sushi, and Opal Buffet, among others, and is a portmanteau of "opal" and "café."

Starting this Monday, we are opening the doors softly to give Pittsburgh a first taste of Opafe Bakery. An exclusive selection from our menu will be available as our team gradually commissions our kitchen equipment and refines the processes of service. 🥐

For our Grand Opening, official hours will be announced soon! In the meantime, please stay tuned to social media for hours and additional exciting updates! We invite you to share your opinion, so when you visit, please be sure to let us know how we are doing.

Signage first went up earlier this year.

2025 Vietnamese film Ky Nam Inn (Quán Kỳ Nam) in Pittsburgh, September 21 for SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest.

The 2025 Vietnamese film Ky Nam Inn (Quán Kỳ Nam) will play in Pittsburgh on September 21 as part of the SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest. A synopsis, from SCREENSHOT:

Ky Nam Inn, a romance set in 1980’s Saigon, explores the frustrations of desire when cast against duty, community, expectation, and authoritarianism. Khang (Liên Bỉnh Phát) wants to prove himself to be a skilled translator, even though he may have gotten his job translating The Little Prince from nepotism. Meanwhile, his neighbor Ky Nam (Đỗ Thị Hải Yến) caters lunches out of her kitchen while suffering from judgement because of her deceased husband’s southern associations. Though the film and its characters are unabashedly beautiful, the love story is rooted in literature and language. Their relationship grows because of—and in spite of—how languages cannot close the gaps between cultures, classes, and regions. Shot on luminous 35mm, the lyrical film explores what can and cannot be said in a world with duties, rules, and expectations.

Best film: Beijing International Film Festival (2026)

It plays at 6:30 pm in Public Health G24 on the University of Pittsburgh campus (map) and tickets are available onilne. Tickets are free for CMU students and for University of Pittsburgh students, faculty, and staff.

Queer Taiwan: Works from Jo-Fei Chen, with films Where is my Love? (強迫曝光) and Incidental Journey (海角天涯), September 20 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will screen two films, Where is my Love? (強迫曝光) and Incidental Journey (海角天涯), on September 20 for SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest's "Queer Taiwan: Works from Jo-Fei Chen" programming. A synopsis, from SCREENSHOT:

SCREENSHOT: Asia is excited to bring two rarely-seen works of queer filmmaker Jo-Fei Chen to Pittsburgh. These two works offered a nuanced portrayal of gay love in Taiwan at a time when few films did.

Where is My Love, Taipei in the 1990s: Ko (Wen Jixing) is a young gay writer who has written a story about his sexuality, and is encouraged by his mentor to enter it into a prestigious writing competition. But that would mean publicly revealing his homosexuality, so Ko must decide whether or not to remain in the closet.

Incidental Journey, after breaking up with her girlfriend, student Ching (Wu Su-Li) goes on a road trip around Taiwan. On the island’s east coast, she encounters hitchhiker Hsiang (Wang Wan-Jung), an older, solitary artist. Hsiang takes Ching to visit her friend Ji (Vicky Chiang), who lives on a peaceful rural farm with her husband.

Presented by SCREENSHOT: Asia, Jaded Collective, AQUARIUS, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing.

The event starts at 3:00 pm and tickets are free, though reservations are required. The Carnegie Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by a number of city buses.

Music at Main: Album Listening Club – “KPop Demon Hunters” Movie Soundtrack, September 26 at Carnegie Library in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main Branch is hosting "Music at Main: Album Listening Club – “KPop Demon Hunters” Movie Soundtrack" on September 26.

It’s like a book club, but for music! This month’s album is the “KPop Demon Hunters” Movie Soundtrack. We’ll play some tracks, talk about its history and share what the album means to us. Held in the North Wing Music Room.

It runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by numerous city bus lines.

The Music of Studio Ghibli with Butler County Symphony Orchestra, October 3.

The Butler County Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Moon Doh will present "The Music of Studio Ghibli" on October 3.

Step into the imaginative worlds of Studio Ghibli through the unforgettable music of Joe Hisaishi, the composer behind My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and a remarkable run of Ghibli favorites across decades. Studio Ghibli’s official film pages credit Hisaishi on titles stretching from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Castle in the Sky through My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, The Wind Rises, and The Boy and the Heron—a body of work that has helped define the emotional sound of the studio’s films. This program brings that music into the concert hall for an evening of wonder, nostalgia, tenderness, and adventure that will speak to longtime fans and first-time listeners alike.

Pre-Sale: Adults $39 Children/Students $20
At Door: Adults $45 Children/Students $25

All performances are held at the Butler Intermediate High School: 551 Fairground Hill Rd., Butler, PA, 16001

Contact the office at (724) 283-1402 to learn about discounts for groups of 10 or more. We also offer discounts for seniors, active or retired military, first responders, and educators.

The show runs from 7:30 to 9:30 pm and tickets are available online.

1998 Taiwanese drama-musical film The Hole (洞) in Pittsburgh, September 21 through 24.

The 1998 Taiwanese drama-musical film The Hole (洞) will play in Pittsburgh from September 21 through 24.

Set on the eve of the 21st century, Tsai Ming-liang’s fourth feature turns a crumbling Taipei apartment block into one of cinema’s strangest and most tender end-of-the-world romances. Perennial muse Lee Kang-sheng (“the man upstairs”) and Yang Kuei-mei (“the woman downstairs”) are among the building’s last holdouts, refusing evacuation as a mysterious epidemic spreads outside and rain batters the city without end. When a plumber leaves behind an unfinished repair, the man’s floor opens into an accidental passage between two sealed-off lives, turning leaks, trash, pesticide, and petty territorial warfare into a strange form of courtship. Among the most disarmingly funny and cathartic entries in Tsai’s filmography, The Hole finds hope in a world that seems to be falling apart, breaking its deadpan plague scenario open with splendorous Grace Chang musical numbers and poker-faced slapstick.

The film plays at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online.

2026 film Filipiñana in Pittsburgh for SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest, September 19.

The 2026 Filipino film Filipiñana will play in Pittsburgh on September 19, part of this year's SCREENSHOT: ASIA Film Fest. A synopsis, from SCREENSHOT:

In Filipiñana, Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto) — a new “tee girl” at a luxury golf course – attempts to navigate the quiet luxury and ruthless hierarchical structure of Manila’s wealthy elite. Even as Isabel becomes increasingly entranced with the club’s president Dr. Palanca, she also seems to know secrets that point to Palanca’s dark history. The film’s highly artificial shots of composed pastel symmetries and minutely choreographed workers paint a portrait of Manila’s high society as simultaneously banal and terrifying. The luxurious facility echoes the country’s instabilities: its challenges from climate upheaval amid an increasingly wealthy elite, its history of violence, and its underlying class conflicts. First-time feature director Rafael Manual’s confident artisanship and darkly funny writing are remarkable, but Agoto is the standout star of the film, as a young woman who wants a different life than has been allocated to her. Her relationship with Dr. Palanca maps the Philippines’s past onto its present, showing how even the most elite can’t escape the realities in which they live.

It plays from 7:00 pm at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online. University of Pittsburgh students, faculty, and staff can use promo code ASIAN2026 to get free tickets, but must show valid university ID at the door.