2017 Chinese animated film Have a Nice Day (大世界) just announced for Pittsburgh, April 6 - 19.

The 2017 Chinese animated film Have a Nice Day (大世界) will play in Pittsburgh from April 6 through April 19. The distributor offers a summary:

A hard rain is about to fall on a small town in Southern China.

In a desperate attempt to find money to save his fiancée’s failed plastic surgery, Xiao Zhang, a mere driver, steals a bag containing 1 million from his boss.

News of the robbery spreads fast within the town and, over the course of one night, everyone starts looking for Xiao Zhang and his money…

Liu Jian delivers a whirlwind neo-noir, cementing his place as a pioneering force in independent Chinese animation.

Japanese-language-only screenings of Yojimbo (用心棒) and Your Name (君の名は) at Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival.

There will be Japanese-language-only screenings of Yojimbo (用心棒) and Your Name (君の名は) at the Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, which starts next month at the Row House Cinema. The no-subs-no-dubs screening of Kurosawa's Yojimbo runs from 10:00 to 11:30 am on April 8, and the Japanese-language-only screening of Your Name runs from 10:00 to 11:45 am on the 15th.

Tickets for these, and all other events, are available online via the festival's website. The Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, now in its third year, runs from April 6 through 19 and features 10 Japanese movies across genres and decades, and will play at the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville (map).

2017 documentary The Departure, on punk-turned-priest Ittetsu Nemoto, at CMU International Film Festival, March 30.

The 2017 documentary The Departure will play at the Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival on Friday, March 30. Its subject is Ittestsu Nemoto,

a former punk-turned-Buddhist-priest in Japan, has made a career out of helping suicidal people find reasons to live. But this work has come increasingly at the cost of his own family and health, as he refuses to draw lines between his patients and himself. The Departure captures Nemoto at a crossroads, when his growing self-destructive tendencies lead him to confront the same question his patients ask him: what makes life worth living?

Tickets for the screening are available online. It will play at McConomy Auditorium (map) from 7:00 pm, and the evening also includes a discussion panel.

Screening of documentary Barefoot Doctor Sun Lizhe, with Q&A with doctor, at Pitt on March 27.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center presents a screening of the documentary Barefoot Doctor Sun Lizhe, followed by a question-and-answer session the doctor, on March 27.

King Hu's Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) in Pittsburgh one more day, March 25.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Silk Screen Asian Arts & Cultural Organization are showing a different classic Asian film each month, with King Hu's 1979 movie Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) set to play once more in March.

"Feeling of Freedom: Japanese and American Wartime Films on the Liberation of the Philippines, 1943-45," March 26 at Pitt.

Via 서울대학교.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Takashi Fujitani and his talk "Feeling of Freedom: Japanese and American Wartime Films on the Liberation of the Philippines, 1943-45" on March 26.

IUP hiring language instructor fluent in Japanese and Korean.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is again hiring a foreign language instructor fluent in Japanese and Korean to teach elementary-, intermediate-, and advanced-level courses in those languages. An excerpt from the job posting:

Summary
The Department of Foreign Languages at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) invites applicants for anticipated full-time, and temporary faculty position for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Duties
Teach elementary, intermediate, and advanced Japanese and Korean.

Position Qualifications
Fluency in Japanese and Korean. A master's degree in Foreign Languages, Education, or a related field are required. Ph.D. is preferred. Ongoing research and publications appropriate to one's area of specialty are expected, and teaching or field experience is preferred.

Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple (文豪ストレイドッグス Dead Apple) in Pittsburgh, from May 2.

The 2018 adaptation of the movie and anime series Bungo Stray Dogs will play at the Southside Works Cinema on May 2, May 5, and May 6. The theater provides a synopsis of Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple (文豪ストレイドッグス Dead Apple):

Tickets now available for third annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival.

Tickets for the third annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival at the Row House Cinema are now for sale. The festival runs from April 6 through 19, and the lineup this year includes 10 films:

• Antiporno (アンチポルノ)
• Neko Atsume House (ねこあつめの家)
• Godzilla (ゴジラ), 1954 version
• Sailor Moon: Live Musical
• Sanjuro (椿三十郎)
• Stray Cat Rock (野良猫ロック セックスハンター)
• The Day of the Western Sunrise
• Urotsukidoji: Legend Of The Overfiend
• Wild Zero (ワイルド ゼロ)
• Yojimbo (用心棒)
• Your Name (君の名は)

Tickets and showtime information is available at the festival's official website. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

"China's Constitutional Changes: Discussion," tonight at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Global Citizen Lab will hold a discussion on China's Constitutional Changes on March 20 at 9:00 pm. The event features Dr. Jono Smith of the Department of History. It will be held in 218 Cathedral of Learning (map), free and open to the public.

2008 Studio Ghibli film Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters, March 25, 26, 28.

The 2008 Studio Ghibli film Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ) will play at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters on March 25, 26, and 28 as the first installment of this year's GKIDS Ghibli Fest. A 2009 Roger Ebert review introduces the film, which was the highest-grossing movie in Japan in 2008:

There is a word to describe “Ponyo,” and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It’s wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically.

The G-rated feature tells a story both simple and profound. Sosuke, a 5-year-old who lives in a house on a seaside cliff, finds a goldfish trapped in a jar on the beach. This is Ponyo. Freeing her, he is rewarded by a lick on a finger that heals a cut. And by tasting human blood, we learn, Ponyo gains the ability to transform between fish and human.

The English-dubbed version will play on the 25th and 28th, and the English-subtitled version on the 26th; both versions will play at the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. (On the Cinemark site linked above, enter your zip code to find ticket information.)

"Storytime: Chinese and English" at Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill, March 24.

The Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host its next "Storytime: Chinese and English" on March 24.

Celebrate our city’s diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Chinese. For children birth – 5 years and their caregivers.

It runs from 11:00 to 11:30 am and is free and open to the public. The Carnegie Library branch in Squirrel Hill is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map), accessible by buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, and 74.

Colloquium: On Cold War Ruins: Transpacific Critique of American Justice and Japanese War Crimes, March 26 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center will host Dr. Lisa Yoneyama of the University of Toronto and her colloquium "On Cold War Ruins: Transpacific Critique of American Justice and Japanese War Crimes" on March 26.

WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) hiring bilingual English-Mandarin Manager of School Relations.

Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consulting and placement firm WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) has announced an opening for a bilingual English-Mandarin Manager of School Relations.

Night Market 2018 at Pitt, March 23.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese American Student Association will host Night Market 2018 on March 23.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail at Pitt with Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, March 15.

The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association will host a screening of Abacus: Small Enough to Jail at the University of Pittsburgh on March 15.

A Taxi Driver (탁시운전사) at Pitt for annual Korean Film Festival, March 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will 2017's A Taxi Driver (탁시운전사) on March 16 as the first installment of its 15th annual Korean Film Festival. A 2017 Maggie Lee review in Variety summarizes A Taxi Driver:

Revisiting the 1980 Gwangju Massacre, a landmark historical event in South Korea’s march towards democracy, director Jang Hoon brings a sappy, feel-good touch to a tragic subject by focusing on the bond between a German reporter (Thomas Kretschmann) and the taxi driver (Song Kang-ho) who helped him get the news out to the world.

WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) hiring Mandarin-speaking pre-sales specialist.

Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consulting and placement firm WholeRen Education (美国厚仁教育集团) has announced an opening for a Mandarin-speaking pre-sales specialist (前期销售专员).

Top Chinese movie of 2018, Operation Red Sea (红海行动), continues in Pittsburgh through March 21 (at least).

The highest-grossing movie in Mainland China this year, Operation Red Sea (红海行动), will continue in Pittsburgh for at least a fourth week, through March 21. The Chinese-Hong Kong film, currently #2 movie in Mainland China behind Black Panther, opened at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater on February 23. The production company provides a synopsis:

The Chinese Navy’s Jiaolong (“Sea Dragon”) Assault Team is famed for its skill in getting the job done. After its success in rescuing a cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the Somalia coast, the team is assigned an even more perilous mission. A coup in a North African republic has left local Chinese residents in danger, circumstances further complicated by a terrorist plot to obtain nuclear materials. The situation could prove fatal to the hostages and disastrous to the entire region, and presents Jiaolong with a challenge that threatens the very existence of the team and its members.

Tickets and showtime information is available via Fandango. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

Chinese animated film Big Fish & Begonia (大鱼海棠) just announced for Pittsburgh, April 11 and 12.

The 2016 Chinese animated film Big Fish & Begonia (大鱼海棠) is getting a limited release in the US, and the distributor recently announced dates for Pittsburgh screenings in April. A glowing Variety review summarizes:

In the history of Chinese animation, there has never been a film like “Big Fish & Begonia.” Certainly, precedents exist in American and Japanese cartoons (at its core, the film could be a cross between Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away”), but as far as the Chinese industry goes, this bold and breathtaking fantasy adventure stands alone.

Quick-serve ramen restaurant BOOM Noodles coming to Southpointe.

BOOM Noodles will open in a former Saga hibachi restaurant at Southpointe Town Center, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times today. It is a new venture by AMPD Group, which operates (among others) Steel Cactus and Social House Seven, the latter an Asian-themed bar and restaurant downtown. No opening date has been announced.

Working from some of the recipes of AMPD’s downtown Asian cuisine restaurant Social House 7, AMPD will open BOOM Noodles, which DeSimone describes as a quick-serve Ramen restaurant. BOOM Noodles will be watched by AMPD for potential to expand elsewhere.

BOOM Noodles and a new Steel Cactus location will occupy a space formerly occuped by Saga Japanese Restaurant in Canonsburg's Southpointe Town Center (map).