2021 Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅) in Pittsburgh, March 25, part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival.

The 2021 Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅) will play in Pittsburgh on March 25, part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival.

Taiwan's official selection for the 95th Academy Awards, Goddamned Asura presents youth, violence, and the consequences of a digital world. Following what is seemingly a senseless act of violence, the film traces the histories of six people and their connection to the event. The film questions our relationship with digital media. Is it a tool of obsessive distraction or an agent of change? What can we expect from a youth generation that views the world as absurd and untenable? Goddamned Asura forays into the social issues that flood our TV screens, a disquieting parallel to the stream of flashing lights that characterize the film.

It starts at 7:30 pm on the CMU campus, in McConomy Auditorium, Jared L. Cohon Center, and includes Q&A sessions and a reception.

Q&A and Discussion with director Lou Yi-An and actress Wang Yu-Xuan

Moderated by Kun Qian, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, University of Pittsburgh

Reception catered by FUKU and Many More Asian Supermarket

"Aesthetic Capitalism in the United States and Japan, 1870s-1930s," March 20 at Pitt.

The Department of History and the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will present Dr. Ai Hisano and her talk "Aesthetic Capitalism in the United States and Japan, 1870s-1930s" on March 20.

Aesthetic Capitalism: a mode of capitalism that rested on, and was fueled by, creating and appealing to sensory and emotional experience. In analyzing aesthetics as a social process, rather than a design feature of commodities, this talk explores how aesthetic capitalism emerged and ow it altered people's aesthetic experience in the United States and Japan from the 1870s to 1940s.

It will be held from 4:00 to 5:30 pm in 3703 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

Lecture: Asia Pop Lecture Series: K-Pop Online Fan Cultures, March 28 at Pitt.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Dr. Jade Kim and her talk "K-Pop Online Fan Cultures" on March 28. Part of this semester's "Asia Pop Lecture Series: Fan Cultures", Dr. Kim's talk starts at 6:00 pm in 5201 Posvar Hall.

Poet Paul Tran at Pitt, March 28.

The University of Pittsburgh's Writing Program will have several events around visiting poet Paul Tran on March 28, open to the Pitt community. From their official site:

Paul Tran is the author of the debut poetry collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, published by Penguin. Their work appears in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. They earned their BA in History from Brown University and MFA in Poetry from Washington University in St. Louis. Winner of the Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize, as well as fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, Stanford University, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Paul is an Assistant Professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Events on the 28th include:

All events are open to members of the Pitt community

• 12pm Lunch and Q&A in CL 501
• 2pm Craft Workshop in CL B50
• 6pm Reading and book signing CL B50

Please reach out to Diana K Nguyen with any questions at dianakhoi@pitt.edu

2023 Chinese movie Full River Red (满江红) in Pittsburgh, from March 16.

The 2023 Zhang Yimou film Full River Red (满江红) will play in Pittsburgh from March 16.

12th century China, during the Song Dynasty, set against a brewing rebellion by the Jin people against the Imperial Court. Two hours before a crucial diplomatic meeting between the Song Prime Minister Qin Hui and a high level Jin delegation, the Jin Ambassador is murdered. An important letter destined for the Emperor is stolen from him. As the search for the letter unfolds, alliances are formed, secrets are revealed, and no one can stop the truth that is destined to leave its mark in history.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

French film Return to Seoul in Pittsburgh, March 23, as part of Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival.

The 2022 film Return to Seoul plays in Pittsburgh on March 23 as part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival. It plays on March 23 at the Harris Theater downtown (map), 7:30 pm, and includes a Q&A session and reception afterwards. A quick synopsis:

Set over an eight-year time span, Return to Seoul follows Freddie’s journey back to her place of birth — a country to which she has never been and of which she does not know the language. Freddie, played by first-time actor Park Ji-Min, has never felt at home or comfortable in any setting, which may be why she ventures back to Seoul. Over the course of the eight years, Seoul, the city, and Freddie, its citizen, evolve with each new encounter. A story driven through change, Return to Seoul invites audiences to look closely at the experience of adoption, integration, and what it means to be “from” somewhere.

The evening also includes:

Q&A and Discussion with director Davy Chau, writer Laure Badufle, & Katie Ozbek, Director of Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Network

Moderated by Andy Lee, PhD Candidate in Film and Media Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Special Performance by K-Pop Dance Club, CMU
And a reception catered by The Boonseek and Sumi's Cakery.

The festival opens on March 16 and runs through April 2, and has several films from Asia or with an Asian connection.

Zen Shakuhachi Concert with Cornelius Boots, March 19 at Heinz Chapel.

Heinz Chapel will host "Zen Shakuhachi Concert & Meditation with Grandmaster Cornelius Boots" on March 19.

Cornelius Boots presents the living tradition of shakuhachi — the rare bamboo flute from ancient Japanese Buddhism. Meditation, music and nature form the roots of this earthy and ephemeral performing art. Natural bore (jinashi) and larger, low-pitched flutes (bass or alto) flutes are featured on this program: they provide a strong connection – for both the player and the listener – to a deeper, almost primeval past: echoes from the ancient days of the Earth.

The concert is $20 for general admission tickets, $10 for University of Pittsburgh faculty and staff, and free for University of Pittsburgh students. Heinz Chapel is located in Oakland, across the lawn from the Cathedral of Learning (map).

Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia 3D and 2D at Carnegie Science Center, March 10 through May 29.

Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia 3D and 2D will play at the Carnegie Science Center's Rangos Giant Cinema from March 10 through May 29.

At the height of its power between the 9th and 15th centuries, Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire, was a resplendent city, considered the most extensive urban complex of the pre-industrial world. But by the late 16th century, the empire was in its death throes. The people of Angkor left not a single word explaining their kingdom’s collapse.

Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia is visually stunning—an adventure where science, mystery, and ancient civilizations intersect, on a scale meant for the Giant Screen. Unravel Angkor’s ancient mysteries with archeologists and scientists who conceive ingenious methods, employ cutting edge technology, and even enlist the help of some unexpected furry friends. Come along this giant screen adventure to unveil the mysteries behind this lost jewel of Cambodia!

2021 Taiwanese film A Letter to A'ma (給阿媽的一封信), and Q&A with the director, April 16 at CMU.

The 2021 Taiwanese film A Letter to A'ma (給阿媽的一封信), and Q&A with the director, will play at Carnegie Mellon University on April 16. The event is hosted by the Pittsburgh Taiwanese Association and co-hosted by Café Philo Pittsburgh and the Taiwanese Scholar Society in Pittsburgh.

In A Letter to A’ma, Taiwanese art teacher/filmmaker Hui-Ling returns to her childhood home to mourn the passing of her grandmother. As she pieces together the fragmented memories of her youth, she finds herself coming face-to-face with the problematic issue of her country’s fractured history. Through a student art project guided by this teacher that has lasted for over a decade, a representational portrait of the island’s collective memory begins to emerge, initiating a process in which Taiwan, an island-nation forgotten by the world and in the midst of forgetting itself after centuries of colonization and decades of dictatorship, can now remember its past and re-envision its postcolonial identity through art.

Director Hui-Ling Chen will attend for a post-screening Q&A!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- (「鬼滅の刃」上弦集結、そして刀鍛冶の里へ) continues in Pittsburgh through March 15.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- (「鬼滅の刃」上弦集結、そして刀鍛冶の里へ), which opened in Pittsburgh on March 3, will continue here through (at least) March 15. Writes Cruncyroll:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village-, distributed by Aniplex of America and Crunchyroll, is a feature-length cut of Episodes 10 and 11 of the Entertainment District Arc and the extended Episode 1 of the upcoming Swordsmith Village Arc in 4K with remastered audio.

And a synopsis, from the distributor:

After his family is viciously murdered, a kind-hearted boy named Tanjiro Kamado resolves to become a Demon Slayer in hopes of turning his younger sister Nezuko back into a human. Together with his comrades, Zenitsu and Inosuke, along with one of the top-ranking members of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen Uzui, Tanjiro embarks on a mission within the Entertainment District, where they encounter the formidable, high-ranking demons, Daki and Gyutaro.

It is scheduled to play (so far) from March 3 through 9 at the AMC Loews Waterfront, Waterworks Cinema, and the Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

French film Return to Seoul, Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅), and animated film based on Murakami's Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman help comprise 2023 CMU International Film Festival, from March 16.

Several films with East Asian connections help comprise this year's Carnegie Mellon University International Film festival, starting on March 16. Selections include the 2022 film Return to Seoul, the 2021 Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅), and a 2022 animated film based on Japanese author Haruki Murakami's Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. The festival starts on March 16 and runs through April 2, and tickets are available online.

The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop, March 13 and 20.

JADED and WritePittsburgh will present "The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop" on March 13 and 20.

In How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo presents the “unexpected reader” as the reader who “is not remotely imagined — maybe not even imaginable” by writers and publishers. As Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) readers and writers, how do we enter into a place that has historically excluded our stories? How do we create a referential world that holds in tension our differences?

The first class will be dedicated to reading to write better while contending with what may be keeping us from the page. We will work together to learn how to be porous and available to finding inspiration. 

The second class will be about translation — translation across language, translation across form. This class will coincide with artist (and co-founder of JADED) Anny Chen’s show at Bunker Projects, where we will write alongside her work.

The class will culminate into a zine launch and a reading (date and location TBD).

March 13th - Atithi Studios

March 20th - Bunker Projects

The class is only open to AAPI-identifying writers and will be capped at 12-15 students. Priority will go to students who can attend both classes. 

*Classes will be masked and vaxxed.*

The Instructor:

Elina Zhang is an Asian-American writer and organizer based in Pittsburgh, PA, where she received a Creative Nonfiction Writing MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a 2023 Roots. Words. Wounds Fellow and a 2022 Periplus Fellow. She is also a member of the JADED Asian American artists collective.

Registration can be made online, and as the description says priority goes to those who can attend both sessions.

Win-Win Kung Fu Culture Center 2023 Summer Intensive Program for kids' fitness, culture, and language training, now accepting applications; $30 discount with registration by May 31.

Win-Win Kung Fu Culture Center in Squirrel Hill is now accepting registration for its 2023 Summer Intensive Program, with a $30 discount on weekly tuition for registrations made by May 31.

Benefits of Win-Win Kung Fu Summer Intensive Program

Major

• Learn Kung Fu, free style Chinese kickboxing (sanda) and other forms of Chinese martial arts and Chinese language daily, with strong emphasis on the basics.

• Focus greatly on exercise and conditioning and gain skills needed for other sports and activities as well.

• Improve your concentration and focus with authentic Chinese martial arts training.

• Boot camp for beginners

• Intensive training for intermediate and advanced Wushu as well as a boot camp for beginners.

Tickets now available for 2023 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival: 15 selections of new, classic, and animated movies from March 17 through 30.

Tickets are now available for the 2023 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, which will run from March 17 through 30 at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville.  The festival opens on the 17th at 7:15 pm with Electric Dragon 80000 Volts.  The full 15 films, and their categories, are:

New Releases and Pittsburgh Premieres

Lessons in Murder (死刑にいたる病)

Baby Assassins (ベイビーわるきゅーれ)

Oxhead Village (牛首村)
Anime Supremacy! (ハケンアニメ！)

One Night Screenings

Electric Dragon 80000 Volts (エレクトリック·ドラゴン )

Destroy All Monsters (怪獣総進撃)

Godzilla Vs Destoroyah (ゴジラＶＳデストロイア)

Gamera Vs Guiron (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン)

Kaiju Films

Godzilla (ゴジラ)

Mothra (モスラ)

Shin Godzilla (シン・ゴジラ)

Everything Else

Pompo the Cinephile (映画大好きポンポさん)

Goodbye, Don Glees! (グッバイ、ドン・グリーズ)

Woman in the Dunes (砂の女)

Rashomon (羅生門)

Movie information and tickets are available on the festival's website. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

More theaters announced for Spirited Away: Live on Stage in Pittsburgh in April, other Studio Ghibli Fest films.

More theaters have been announced for Spirited Away: Live on Stage, which will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters on April 23 and 27. From the distributor:

Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated feature film comes to life in this first-ever stage adaptation, full of dazzling sets, captivating musical numbers, and wondrous puppets of beloved characters. Adapted and directed by Tony Award®-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), two unique casts and performances were filmed during the show’s acclaimed 2022 run at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre, featuring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro.

It will play locally at: the AMC Loews Waterfront; the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, and the North Hills; and the Moviescoop theaters in Waterworks and Cranberry. Tickets for most shows are available online, with Waterworks and Cranberry to come later.

Gamera vs. Guiron with Onigiri (from Teppanyaki Kyoto), March 28 at Row House Cinema.

Row House Cinema will present Gamera vs. Guiron with Onigiri on March 28, featuring rice balls from Highland Park's Teppanyaki Kyoto to eat while watching the 1969 kaiju film.

Snack on some Onigiri — aka adorable and savory filled rice cakes (one salmon and one regular) — from Teppanyaki Kyoto while you watch this campy and fun 1960s outer space monster movie!

Two young boys sneak aboard a spaceship and find themselves whisked away to the mysterious planet Terra. There, they encounter Gamera’s old foe Gyaos and two female aliens with a taste for human brains. Gamera must save the children and battle the new monster Guiron, whose entire body is a deadly living weapon.

The movie starts at 7:15, and Gamera vs. Guiron with Onigiri is one of several events already announced for the 2023 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Kpop Drop-in Class at Yanlai Dance Academy, March 4: TXT "Sugar Rush Ride."

Yanlai Dance Academy's next Kpop Drop-in Class will be on March 4th with TXT's "Sugar Rush Ride."

Join our studio for a new set of Kpop drop-in classes! Come learn at a single class or join our weekly Kpop dance classes!

March 4: TXT 'Sugar Rush Ride'

---------------
Each class will start with a short warm up before proceeding to learn the chorus choreography for a popular Kpop dance.

Each class is $15 to be paid in person via Venmo, cash, or check.

No registration is necessary. Please come on time wearing clothes comfortable for dancing in. We recommend that you bring a water bottle.

The class runs from 5:30 to 7:00 pm on the 4th. Yanlai Dance Academy is located at 2260 Babcock Boulevard in the North Hills (map). 

In Person Reading & Conversation: "Dust Child" by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (w/ Cameron Barnett), April 8 at White Whale Books & Coffee.

White Whale Books & Coffee will present "In Person Reading & Conversation: 'Dust Child' by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (w/ Cameron Barnett)" on April 8.

We're BIG fans of award-winning Vietnamese poet and internationally bestselling novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai—The Mountains Sing was one of our favorite books of 2020 (and one of our customers' faves, too!). And we're very excited to welcome her to Pittsburgh on her national tour for her latest novel, Dust Child (out 3/14). She'll be joined in conversation by Chatham University's Emerging Black Writer-In-Residence and local author Cameron Barnett (The Drowning Boy's Guide to Water, Autumn House Press). We're grateful to the Chatham University MFA in Creative Writing for co-sponsoring this event.

Quế Mai will do a short reading from the book, talk about her research and writing process and perform her poetry in Vietnamese and English. She will also take your questions. She can't wait to see you, and is happy to sign and personalize your books.

"Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai will win many more readers with her powerful and deeply empathetic second novel. From the horrors of war and its enduring afterlife for men and women, lovers and children, soldiers and civilians, she weaves a heartbreaking tale of lost ideals, human devotion, and hard-won redemption. Dust Child establishes Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai as one of our finest observers of the devastating consequences of war, and proves, once more, her ability to captivate readers and lure them into Viet Nam’s rich and poignant history."—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Sympathizer and The Committed

11 films comprising Studio Ghibli Fest 2023 playing in Pittsburgh-area theaters, March through November.

The annual Studio Ghibli Fest from GKIDS returns in 2023 with 11 films that will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters from March through November: 

• My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) - March 25, 27, 29 (dubbed in English), March 26, 28 (in Japanese with English subtitles)

• Spirited Away: Live on Stage - April 23, April 27

• Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) - May 7, 10 (dubbed), May 8 (subtitles)

• Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) - June 11 (dubbed), June 12, 14 (subtitles)

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ) - July 9 (dubbed), July 11 (subtitles)

• Castle in the Sky ( 天空の城ラピュタ) - July 10 (dubbed), July 12 (subtitles)

• Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) - August 5, 8 (dubbed), August 6, 7, 9 (subtitles)

• The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ) - August 21 (dubbed), August 23 (subtitles)

• Porco Rosso (紅の豚) - August 20 (dubbed), August 22 (subtitles) 

• Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) - September 23, 26 (dubbed), September 24, 25, 27 (subtitles)

• Spirited Away ( 千と千尋の神隠し) - October 29, 30, November 1 (dubbed), October 28, 30 (subtitles)

Showtimes and ticket information for local Cinemark theaters been posted at the links above, but others are likely to be announced later; Ghibli Fest films typically also play at the AMC theaters, the Waterworks Cinema, and in Cranberry, among others. 

"Innovation And Women’s Entrepreneurship In Japan And The U.S.," March 23.

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will present "Innovation And Women’s Entrepreneurship In Japan And The U.S." on March 23.

Join us in celebrating Women’s History Month at our upcoming program, Innovation and Women’s Entrepreneurship in Japan and the U.S.

 

Innovation is crucial to grow Pittsburgh into a vibrant, thriving city. Japanese companies are taking notice, investing in local businesses and forming research partnerships with educational institutions. In this interactive panel discussion, our expert speakers will discuss trends in entrepreneurship and innovation in both countries.