Vietnamese movie Song Lang (online) in Pittsburgh, July 27.

The 2018 Vietnamese movie Song Lang, which was originally scheduled to play in Pittsburgh on April 30, will stream online on July 27 in a presentation hosted by ReelQ: The Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society and the City of Asylum.

Join us for a screening of SONG LANG, hosted by ReelQ. Director Leon Le will introduce the film, give a live talkback, and lead the audience in a Q&A after the screening.

Set in 1980s Saigon, well before the U.S. embargo on Vietnam was lifted in 1994, SONG LANG depicts a gritty underworld whose only source of brightness comes from the gorgeous stage productions of a local opera troupe. A hunky, brooding debt collector forms an unlikely friendship with the charismatic lead actor of the struggling company, and their friendship, to their surprise, awakens feelings in both men. “Song Lang” is a percussion instrument used to control tempo and phrasing in Vietnamese modern folk opera. In the Vietnamese language, it also means “two men.” It is the perfect homonym for a nearly perfect film. This film is an outstanding achievement for first-time feature director Leon Le—who also voices the part of the lead actor in the opera! To date, this film has racked up 25 awards in a wide variety of categories: best narrative feature, screenplay, cinematography, production design, costume design. Festivals in Asia have also recognized newcomer Lien Bahn Phat, who makes his acting debut in this film as the debt collector Dung ‘Thunderbolt,’ as a rising star.

The presentation starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are free but registration is required and can be completed online.

Pittsburgh Magazine profiles Brian Deutsch, of Panda Supermarket and University of Pittsburgh, on working through the pandemic.

The June 2020 Pittsburgh Magazine profiles Brian Deutsch, of Panda Supermarket and the University of Pittsburgh, on working through the pandemic.

The juxtaposition in his employment — one allowing work from home and the other requiring face-to-face contact with coworkers and customers — has also drawn his attention to the divide between those with the luxury to self-quarantine and work from home and those who must continue to work. “I hope that as we move towards reopening and getting back to more familiar routines that we stop and think, how can we make these routines serve us and serve our communities better because like I said, going back to normal isn’t a good thing,” Deutsch says. “So I hope we take some time to figure out how we want our new lives to look.”

Station Square's Kiku Japanese Restaurant reopens, but reservations are required.

Kiku Japanese Restaurant, routinely named among the best sushi places in the city, has reopened for in-person diners, though reservations are required and seating restrictions are in place. Their Facebook page has detailed their new policies and procedures; in short, they are requiring online reservations for guests. 

Racism from Dallas Beauty Lounge emerges.

A few days after being profiled in Pittsburgh Magazine, racist social media posts from Dallas Michelucci, the owner of Dallas Beauty Lounge, have emerged. They are cataloged in this Twitter thread; the salon, with locations in Bridgeville and Market Square, has removed or hidden its social media channels.

Soon-Mi Yoo's Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) online with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, July 27.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 2014 Soon-Mi Yoo documentary Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) on July 27, as the second installment of its online Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights And Cold War series. From a New York Times review:

More art-video installation than typical documentary, “Songs From the North” is mostly nonnarrative, drawing on North Korean film and TV clips to sketch a sensibility that — however stoked by propaganda — prizes family above all and melds that with a zealous commitment to the fatherland. Song and music invoke shared ideals of sacrifice, honor and patriotism; one televised event that features a young boy crying as he sings of his love of country — as an audience of dignitaries also sobs — is moving and disturbing.

. . .

Scattering history lessons and ambiguous imagery amid Ms. Yoo’s engagement with North Koreans, her film implicitly asks: What must they think of us?

The presentation runs from 4:00 to 7:00 pm; registration will be required, though the registration link does not yet show the July installment.

"In Conversation Online: An-My Lê and Dan Leers" (online) with Carnegie Museum of Art, June 11.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will present "In Conversation Online: An-My Lê and Dan Leers" on June 11, as part of the suspended An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain exhibition.

Join artist An-My Lê and Carnegie Museum of Art curator Dan Leers as they lead a virtual tour of An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain. An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain is the first comprehensive survey of the politically charged work of photographer An-My Lê (American, born Vietnam, 1960). Featuring over 100 photographs, this exhibition presents seven of Lê's series, providing insight into her evocative images that draw on a landscape tradition to address the complexity of war.

The cost is $10 for adults, $8 for members and students, and registration can be completed online.

PSA from PsA: Recognizing expired products at Asian groceries (or, rather, recognizing when things aren't expired).

With many Asian groceries now reopened with at least limited hours in Allegheny County's green phase, it is worth sharing information on spotting expired products; or, rather, recognizing when a product in an Asian grocery isn't expired. There is a stereotype that one needs to be extra vigilant at Asian groceries becaue of lax attitudes toward expiration dates. However, while I've purchased expired instant Maxim coffee at a store that was older than the expired Maxim coffee in my closet, I've also found expired baby food at Giant Eagle and expired yogurt at Aldi, so one type of store is not necessarily more notorious than another.

At first glance, a ton of products you find at an Asian grocery look expired based on the dates printed on the packages. For example, this package of frosted snacks or this cup of instant noodles:

Duolingo hiring Creative Producer; proficiency in Chinese or Japanese (among other languages) preferred.

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is hiring a Creative Producer, with proficiency in a language like Chinese or Japanese preferred.

Are you a producer and project manager with passion for creative and organizational excellence? Does collaborating with skilled strategic marketing and design talent to help build the next iconic brand excite you? Do you have a knack for seeking out inefficiencies and developing strategies for more effective executions? With your project management and producing guidance, you will help ensure we deliver great creative work, on time, every time. This role partners with the Creative Director of Brand & Marketing as a member of the Marketing team, the instrumental creative partner in all marketing projects at Duolingo. As we scale marketing design & creative teams, projects and campaigns- there’s a need to help facilitate collaboration amongst our internal and external teams and partners. This includes assisting in making the team more productive and transparent, producing more strategic creative that hits our objectives and assists in creating A+ Iconic-brand creative work. —At Duolingo, we take pride in and agonize over creative and organization craft to deliver a friendly (and fun) experience for everyone.

More information is available at the Duolingo job posting.

Erie APAA Online Discussion Panel on PBS's Asian Americans, June 11.

The Erie Asian Pacific American Association will hos an online discussion panel on PBS's Asian Americans on June 11.

Join us for the online screening of an epic new film from PBS that examines Asian Americans’ contributions to our country’s past, present, and future, followed by live discussion with a diverse panel from Erie’s Asian community on Thursday, June 11th at 6:30 pm. "Asian Americans" is presented in partnership with WQLN Public Media, and Erie Arts & Culture. The full documentary is available for viewing online now and it has also aired on WQLN. During the panel discussion, we will screen excerpts from the documentary to frame specific conversations. Our distinguished panel includes Dr. Shafiqur Rehman (moderator), Dr. Anjali Sahay, Brittany Fisher, Dr. Jingze Jiang, Nandu Subedi, Harjinder Sabherwal, Walter Ang, and Niken Astari Carpenter.

The free event starts at 6:30 pm. Registration is required and can be completed online.

"Strings Revolution: History and Music of Shamisen and Geisha" with Yuko Eguchi-Wright, (online) at Pitt, June 11.

The next installment in the online series The Sound of (Japanese) Music, "Strings Revolution: History and Music of Shamisen and Geisha" through the University of Pittsburgh will be held on June 11. It runs from 6:00 to 7:30 pm with Yuko Eguchi-Wright of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at Pitt. Registration is required and can be completed online.