2026 Japanese film The Samurai and the Prisoner (黒牢城) in Pittsburgh, September 11 - 17.

The 2026 Japanese film The Samurai and the Prisoner (黒牢城) will play in Pittsburgh from September 11 through 17.

When Lord Murashige (Masahiro Motoki) rises up against the tyrannical Oda (Bando Shingo), he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda’s army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda), a brilliant yet dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon. Helped by his wife Chiyoho (Yuriko Yoshitaka) and his most loyal generals, Murashige must uncover the truth before the castle falls.

It was the #2 grossing film in Japan its opening weekend. The film plays at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map) and tickets are available online.

Five episodes of Mob Psycho 100 in Pittsburgh-area theater, July 20.

July Crunchyroll Anime Nights will present five episodes of Mob Psycho 100 on July 20.

Crunchyroll Anime Nights is bringing MOB PSYCHO 100 to the big screen! To celebrate Mob Psycho 100's 10th anniversary we'll be showing 5 amazing episodes - chosen by YOU, the fans - that will take you through all of Mob's story. Mob is an 8th grader with powerful psychic abilities who wants to be normal. When not exorcising evil spirits he attempts to suppress his powers, causing stunted emotions. But when he hits 100 percent, his pent-up feelings unleash a dark power. Can he survive the psychic strain?

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

Candlelight: The Best of Joe Hisaishi, September 20 at Omni William Penn Hotel.

The Omni William Penn Hotel will host a Candlelight Concert on September 20, The Best of Joe Hisaishi.

⭐ Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Pittsburgh. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Joe Hisaishi at Omni William Penn Hotel under the gentle glow of candlelight.

Bilingual Chinese-English story time returns to Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill this fall.

The Chinese Library for Children will present Bilingual Story Hour monthly this fall at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill, representing a return of Chinese-English storytimes that were frequent pre-COVID.

Join us for stories, songs, movement and hands-on activities–designed to introduce children to language and culture through play and shared reading.

Story Hours are scheduled from 10:30 to 11:30 am on September 12, October 10, and November 14 at the Squirrel Hill branch at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map). The Chinese Library for Children is

a community-grown nonprofit initiative that supports children’s access to Chinese-language reading through shared resources and local collaboration.

JADED presents PONY UP, Year of the Fire Horse Celebration, June 20 in Lawrenceville.

JADED Pittsburgh, the city's first Asian American & Pacific Island (AAPI) artist collective, will present PONY UP, a concert in celebration of the Year of the Fire Horse, on June 20.

PONY UP is a festival along the Allegheny River ft. performances, live music, and AAPI vendors sharing art, food, & services.

JADED presents PONY UP to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse. On the cusp of the summer solstice, we will harness the power of the sun to uncover our wildest and most unnameable desires. We seek to enliven ways before and beyond the forces of capitalism, fascism, and imperialism that have conspired to deaden our dreaming. What spiritual traditions and collective rituals can give us strength to return ourselves to ourselves? To dance, to scream, to nourish, to mourn, to ghost, to river, to attune to what has been attenuated. To take the reins and pony UP.

🐴🐴PERFORMER LINEUP🐴🐴
LEXCD
FORMOSA
Viii Dorsey
Philophilm
412 Step
Monkey Wenches LLC

We're also looking for volunteers, which includes a free ticket to the event. Help us make this party a reality! Sign up here.

Tickets are available online. The event will be held at Tree Pittsburgh,located at 32 62nd St in Lawrenceville (map). 

2026 Philippine film Us in the End (Tayo sa Wakas) in Pittsburgh, June 12.

The 2026 Philippine film Us in the End (Tayo sa Wakas) will play in Pittsburgh on June 12.

Long-time couple, Cisco and Cheska, once partners in life and career, are forced to confront how their ambitions started to put them at competing paths.

As they ultimately drift apart, they take their promised "break up trip" to decide if they should finally let go of each other or fight for their love one last time.

It plays locally at the Cinemark theater in Monroeville and tickets are available online.

Author Min Jin Lee returns to Pittsburgh November 16 for Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures series.

Author Min Jin Lee will return to Pittsburgh on November 16 as part of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings lecture series.

At last, the National Book Award finalist and NYT bestselling author of Pachinko returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic: Min Jin Lee has written a masterpiece by turns sweeping and intimate, one that reckons with ambition and moderation, lust and loyalty, personal dreams and familial loyalty.

In schools and churches, hotel rooms and nail salons, law firms and fried-fish shops; in cramped, dingy apartments and luxury, gated communities, the men, women, and children in American Hagwon struggle to find satisfaction and meaning in a world that seems to grow less forgiving with each passing year.

2008 Japanese animated movie Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) in Pittsburgh, June 13 - 17, part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2026.

The 2008 Japanese animated movie Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) will play in Pittsburgh from June 13 through 17, the first installment of Studio Ghibli Fest 2026.

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, and Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki, comes a heartwarming family adventure. When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea. Miyazaki’s breathtaking, imaginative world is brought to life with an all-star cast, featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront; the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson; GQT Pittsburgh Mills Cinemas; and the Chartiers Valley Luxury 14 + PTX. Tickets are available online. Please note, the shows on June 13, 14 and 17 are dubbed in English, while the shows on June 15 and 16 are in Japanese with English subtitles.

Vietnamese restaurant Bela Kitchen soft opening today in East Liberty.

A new Vietnamese restaurant, Bela Kitchen, will be soft opening today in East Liberty. Located on the ground floor of 211 Tower at 211 N. Whitfield St. (map) in what was most recently Blue Sky Kitchen and Bar. It will be operated by the family behind Mola, the Novo Asian Food Hall in the Strip District and the Asian stationary store DooBoo that opened in January. Previous paperwork called the forthcoming spot Viet Lounge. Hours of operation are 11:30 am to 10:00 pm Sunday through Friday and 11:30 am to 11:00 pm on Saturdays.

Korean pansori pop band Leenalchi (이날치) in Pittsburgh, November 2.

The Korean pansori pop band Leenalchi (이날치) will perform in Pittsburgh on November 2, part of its world tour spanning Canada, the US, Europe, and an August show in Incheon. A brief biography, from the band's official site:

Imagine a musical version of Hamlet set to a juicy, tripped-out bass hook.

The psychedelic riffs are courtesy of Jang Young Gyu (that’s Mr. Jang to you), Leenalchi’s enigmatic leader. Born in 1968, Mr. Jang has witnessed the unprecedented popularity of Korean culture reach every corner of the planet from within. Even on this EP, you’ll find evidence of that reach in their cover of “Let’s Live for Today” by Los Angeles rock band, The Grass Roots. Leenalchi’s version was originally recorded for Kagonada’s acclaimed adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel, Pachinko, and was used as the theme song in the final episode.

In a landscape dominated by the K-pop industry, Mr. Jang represents the country’s small but dedicated indie music scene; he is also a prestigious film composer, scoring soundtracks for some of Korea’s most celebrated movies like Train to Busan, The Wailing, and The Good, the Bad, the Weird.

The band performs at 8:00 pm at the Warhol Museum, part of its Sound Series. Tickets are available online. The Andy Warhol Museum is located at 117 Sandusky Street on the North Shore (map).

Author Kelly Yang in Pittsburgh October 22, part of Words & Pictures series.

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will present author Kelly Yang on October 22, part of its Words & Pictures series.

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and pursue her writing dreams?

Kelly Yang is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of the Front Desk series, winner of the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. Her books include Front Desk, Three Keys, Room to Dream, Parachutes, New From Here, and other middle grade and young adult novels. She was born in China and grew up in Los Angeles. She went to college at the age of 13 and graduated from UC Berkeley at the age of 17 and Harvard Law School at the age of 20. After law school, she founded The Kelly Yang Project, a writing and debating program for children in Asia. Prior to becoming a novelist, she wrote for many years for the South China Morning Post, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

The talk starts at 6:00 pm and will be held at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland (map). The event is free but registration is required.

2006 Japanese animated film Paprika (パプリカ) in 35mm at Row House Hollywood, June 27 and 28.

The 2006 Japanese animated film Paprika (パプリカ) will play at the Row House Hollywood on June 27 and 28, part of its MegaScreen series of screenings in 35 mm.

Experience cinema on our premium large format screen. Our main auditorium has 389 seats, a balcony, a top of the line digital projector, and 35/70 mm film capabilities

Tickets for the Satoshi Kon film are available online.

Satoshi Kon’s anime thriller stars a young dream detective named Paprika, who must stop terrorists from using a stolen machine that allows therapists to enter their patients’ dreams. The reality and dreams blur, and chaos breaks out in a not-so-far-off future.

The Row House Hollywood is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. (map), one block south of the Potomac T Station.

Japanese rock band Nemophila in Pittsburgh, July 4.

The Japanese rock band Nemophila will play in Pittsburgh on July 4, part of their North American tour.

NEMOPHILA’s music can be described as a mixture of various styles ranging from loud rock to grunge. The band displays a sound heavier than hell, while presenting a soft and gentle-cute character at the same time.

The band aims to exhibit an unpredictable mixture in their appearance and fashion along with a positive heavy metal sound bringing a smile to everyone around the world!

They will play at Crafthouse Stage & Grill in Whitehall (map), and tickets are available online.

Author R.F. Kuang returns to Pittsburgh, September 10, part of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures "New & Noted" series.

Author R.F. Kuang will returns to Pittsburgh on September 10 as part of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures "New & Noted" series.

College freshman Lily Chen is off to spend the summer in Taipei at an intensive language program like so many Chinese American students before her, hoping to connect with the culture she inherited but never fully understood. But a promising start quickly unravels. Her classes are grueling, her roommate is driving her insane, and a reckless trip to the hot springs with a guy she barely knows soon has her classmates viciously gossiping. She feels adrift, a foreigner in a country she thought would feel like home.

Then shocking news arrives: Lily’s grandfather has passed away. The loss forces her to grapple with now-unanswerable questions about her family history. As Lily grieves, she’s drawn into a journey of self-discovery—piecing together memories, stories, and silences over a series of hilarious and devastating attempts at connection.

Taipei Story asks: What if the diaspora fantasy of homecoming never comes true? What if learning a language can’t bring you any closer to the people you’re trying to reach? What if you search for your family’s history, but your family doesn’t want to share? What if you wait too long to ask the right questions? As Lily struggles for answers, her summer becomes a poignant search for understanding—of herself, her family, and the meaning of home.

The event starts at 7:00 pm and will be held at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland (map). Tickets are available online and purchase includes a copy of Taipei Story. 

Korean Liberation Day Celebration at Carnegie Museum of Art, August 15.

Photo by Sunni Park, via brookstakahashi.com.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will host a Korean Liberation Day Celebration in Perilla People’s Garden on August 15.

Korean Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol) commemorates the liberation from Japan’s colonial rule of 35 years. To celebrate Korean Liberation Day, we will host an ice cream party in the garden. The ice cream features the flavors of perilla seeds.

The event starts at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public.

The Perilla People's Garden is an exhibit in the 59th Carnegie International by Pittsburgh artist Ginger Brooks Takahashi,

whose Perilla People's Garden is an expression of her intersecting interests in gardening, culinary arts, ethnobotany, colonial histories, and contemporary conditions of migrations.

More information about the garden and its progress is available on the artist's website.

Artist in Exile: Mai Khôi & the Dissidents farewell show, July 8 at City of Asylum and online.

City of Asylum will present Artist in Exile: Mai Khôi & the Dissidents (Vietnamese Pop) on July 8.

Pittsburgh’s resident pop star and powerhouse Mai Khôi is leaving the city and starting her next chapter in Philadelphia—but not without a rockin’ farewell show. The alumna City of Asylum Artist-in-Residence returns with her group, the Dissidents.

Mai Khôi & the Dissidents was originally formed in 2016 with Vietnamese musicians, but the group was forced to disband due to government pressure. Khôi herself fled to the US in 2019, where she has lived in exile ever since. In 2021, she re-formed Mai Khôi & the Dissidents with American musicians, alongside pianist and composer Mark Micchelli. The new band features prominent members of Pittsburgh’s jazz, experimental music, and activist communities. For this performance, Mark and Khôi have composed and arranged a powerful style of music that reflects the turmoil of the world and the hope that continues to shine.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see Mai and Mark in their farewell show and give them a warm sendoff!

The concert runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at Alphabet City on the North Side (map) and online. Registration for both modalities is required and can be completed online.

Chan Sze-Wei documentary 10s Across the Borders in Pittsburgh, June 23.

ReelQ and the City of Asylum will present a screening of the 2025 documentary 10s Across the Borders on June 23.

Set in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia. New York and elsewhere, “10s Across the Borders” is a pan-Asian queer film that confronts homophobia, transphobia, and racism while celebrating the region’s underground ballroom culture. As the title suggests, Sze-Wei Chan envisions a world where members of Ballroom communities far from New York can also score a perfect 10.

This film follows three leading characters of Southeast Asia’s ballroom scene—Teddy from Malaysia who ran away from his homophobic father, Xyza from the Philippines who found beauty in herself after being rejected by the modeling world, and Sun who was born to a Thai sex worker mother and European father.

In the film’s finale, the performers’ surreal performance cuts between Southeast Asia’s back alleys and New York’s bustling streets, dissolving boundaries of nation, gender, race, age, religion, and class to soar beyond the rainbow. This is Southeast Asia’s answer to the seminal documentary, the 1990 classic Paris is Burning.

Reel Q hosts one of the oldest LGBTQ+ film festivals in the world. Since 1985, Reel Q has remained steadfast in their mission and worked diligently to highlight the diverse experiences of our worldwide community. For the better part of a decade, City of Asylum has been partnering with Reel Q to bring unique, international queer films to audiences (for free!) in a series formerly known as “Reel Stories.” From dramas to documentaries to playful rom-coms, we are honored and delighted to serve as a platform for these beautiful works to reach new audiences.

More information about the documentary is available via its official site. The screening runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm, both in person and online via livestream, and is free and open to the public. The in-person screening will take place at Alphabet City on the North Side (map). Registration for both modalities is required and can be completed online.

"We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes resume at Carnegie Library in Oakland, Saturdays from June 20.

via the Republic of Korea's Flickr page.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Oakland will resume its free "We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes Saturdays from June 20 through August 29, after its most recent session concluded on May 9. 

Korean bluegrass band Country Gongbang in Pittsburgh, June 13.

The Korean bluegrass band Country Gongbang will play in Pittsburgh on June 13, part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

Country Gongbang is South Korea’s first and only bluegrass band, pioneering a distinctive blend of contemporary bluegrass with K‑pop sensibilities. Singing in both English and Korean, the group bridges musical cultures while carving out a unique voice in the global bluegrass scene.

In 2023, Country Gongbang received the International Band Performance Grant from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), recognizing their groundbreaking artistry. The award led to their historic 2024 U.S. tour, where they performed at major venues and festivals, including the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville—becoming the first Korean band to perform on its iconic stage.

In 2025, the group was nominated for the IBMA Momentum Awards for Band of the Year and Vocalist of the Year, marking a historic milestone for a Korean bluegrass ensemble.

The band features Yebin Kim (mandolin, lead vocals), Hyunho Jang (banjo), Jongsu Yoon (fiddle), Sunjae Won (guitar), and Keeha Song (bass).

Blending tradition with bold innovation, Country Gongbang brings a vibrant new perspective to bluegrass music.

“South Korea’s Country Gongbang demonstrates that the basics of bluegrass aren’t limited exclusively to the realms of the western world.”
— Bluegrass Today

 The show runs from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at Dollar Bank Stage @ Arts Landing.

1999 Japanese animated film Adolescence of Utena (少女革命ウテナ アドゥレセンス黙示録) in Pittsburgh, June 21 and 22.

The 1999 Japanese animated film Adolescence of Utena (少女革命ウテナ アドゥレセンス黙示録) will play in Pittsburgh on June 21 and 22. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Utena enrolls in the prestigious Ohtori Academy on her quest to become a prince, and stumbles into a mysterious cabal of students dueling for possession of the “Rose Bride.” The role belongs to their classmate Anthy, an enigmatic girl who equally captivates and confuses Utena. While fending off powerful rivals, Utena must uncover the secrets surrounding Anthy and her own desires. As the relationship between the girls intensifies, their thirst for freedom crescendoes into a need for revolution.

ADOLESCENCE OF UTENA is a standalone genre classic that brings together the creative genius of director Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sailor Moon), writer Yoji Enokido (EVANGELION franchise), and art director Shichiro Kobayashi (ANGEL’S EGG) with J.A. Seazer’s transcendent music. Straddling the line between fairytale and surrealist opera, the film stands as a bold display of the ways social roles chain us— and demands we smash through them.

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