SCREENSHOT:ASIA Film Festival coming in October.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host the first SCREENSHOT:ASIA Film Festival from October 6 through 10th. It has already announced a screening of Who Killed Vincent Chin? and a discussion of Asian horror.

A brief summary of the festival and its ambitions:

The Festival brings together students, faculty, long-term Pittsburghers, and recently arrived residents. By screening films from across Asia, we hope to create a dialog based on shared cinematic experiences, letting our audiences learn about and embrace different cultures, peoples, and ways of being in the world. Asian residents are the fastest-growing ethnic community in Pittsburgh; new arrivals include Asian and Asian American students who stay after graduation; professionals brought in by tech, biomedical, and other emerging industries, and refugee communities from Bhutan, Iraq, and Syria. By partnering with community groups—including nationality rooms and other local festivals—we will encourage on and off-campus investment in the success of the events. Additionally, screenings will bring new populations to campus, giving residents who may not know the University their first on-campus experience.

The project is also a way to engage students in practical, professional arts programming experience. Through internships, participation in the ‘Film Festivals’ course, and volunteering, students will learn how to create and execute a high level, city-wide programming event. Students will be part of all committees and areas of engagement. They will help decide which films should be screened, make decisions on graphics and marketing, and work with filmmakers, distributors, and theaters. The project allows students to learn on the ground project management.

By screening films by lesser-known artists from overseas and emerging Asian American film professionals, the Screenshot: Asia Film Festival will impact our participants and audiences in several crucial ways: firstly, it will help our audiences understand marginalized experiences inside and outside of the United States and consider the unique challenges to minority filmmakers. Secondly Screenshot: Asia will provide a space for Asian and other minority film students to meet and learn from underrepresented filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad. We know that representation matters and learning about minority professionals encourages students of color to participate in the industry. By creating networking sessions and filmmaker discussions with students, the program will help bridge the gap between potential women and minority filmmakers and the industry.

The festival was supposed to debut last fall but COVID cancelled those plans. It will succeed and expand upon the long-running Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival, which ceased operations in 2018 after rampant sexual harassment by its director was exposed.

Asian Lantern Festival at Pittsburgh Zoo, August 14 through October 30.

The Pittsburgh Zoo will hold its first Asian Lantern Festival from August 14 through October 30.

The Zoo will embark on a bold new adventure in 2021 with the opening of the Asian Lantern Festival at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, an evening experience that will shine a light on conservation, community, and diversity.

Select nights from Saturday, August 14 through Saturday, October 30, the Zoo will illuminate the city with the glow of colossal, wildlife-themed, handcrafted lanterns.

These towering steel and silk sculptures will encompass three connected themes: the Zoo, our global species conservation partnerships, and Asian culture.

As dusk settles in, the lanterns will begin to glow. Revelers will stroll the winding pathways of the Zoo, pausing to admire the beautiful lights, experience awe-inspiring entertainment, and discover the cultural diversity of our region.

The Asian Lantern Festival is a family-friendly nighttime event that requires a separate ticket from Zoo daytime admission. Pricing and details below.

Check back in July to get your tickets! Member pre-sale begins Thursday, July 1. General ticketing begins Friday, July 8.

I've written about paper lantern festivals before, and how Pittsburgh should host one on its rivers, most recently in December.

"Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Cook-Along: Building Power One Meal at a Time," (online) May 27 and June 5.

APALA Pittsburgh presents a two-part Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Cook-Along with local AAPI chefs, online on May 27 and June 5.

We will have one cookalong on May 27 at 6pm Eastern Time where Itha Cao from The Hungry Cao will share her dumpling recipe, and another cookalong on June 5th at 6pm Eastern Time where Teodora Schipper from the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh will show us how to make chicken afritada.
All ticket sale and proceeds from the event will go to APALA Pittsburgh's COVID cash assistance fund that will support Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander workers who experience hardship and are excluded from federal relief programs.

Last year APALA Pittsburgh distributed $65,400 in cash assistance to more than 70 families. We provided relief for restaurant workers who were laid off of faced heavily reduced hours but were unable to file for unemployment or receive stimulus checks. We provided relief for graduate student workers who continued to prep for classes and teach undergraduate students but lost part of their income.

Registration is required and the events are free, though donations are encouraged.

Stop Asian Hate rally, raffle, dance party, May 29th in Point Breeze.

The Asian Solidarity Alliance will present "a rally to celebrate AAPI culture and bring light to the increasing violence that Asians are facing in this country" on May 29th, with a rally, fundraiser, and dance party. It starts at 4:00 pm at Westinghouse Park in Point Breeze (map).

2020 Japanese movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編) remains in Pittsburgh through June 2.

The 2020 Japanese animated movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編), which opened in Pittsburgh on April 22, will remain here through at least June 2. A synopsis of the top-grossing film in Japan last year, from the theaters:

Tanjiro Kamado, joined with Inosuke Hashibira, a boy raised by boars who wears a boar's head, and Zenitsu Agatsuma, a scared boy who reveals his true power when he sleeps, board the Infinity Train on a new mission with the Fire Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku, to defeat a demon who has been tormenting the people and killing the demon slayers who oppose it!

It will play locally at numerous local theaters, depending on the day, including AMC Loews Waterfront, AMC South Hills Village, Cranberry Cinemas, the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Robinson, and the Chartiers Valley Luxury 14. Tickets are available online.

"Asian and Pacific Islander Scholars: Experiences and Brilliance of Asian Postdocs and Faculty at Pitt," May 27.

The University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association will present the next installment in its "Our Brilliance: Underrepresented Postdoctoral Scholars" series, "Asian and Pacific Islander Scholars: Experiences and Brilliance of Asian Postdocs and Faculty at Pitt."

The program - Our Brilliance: Asian and Pacific Islander Scholars: Experiences and Brilliance of Asian Postdocs and Faculty at Pitt - will feature a panel of community members who will share reflections on the accomplishments and experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander researchers here at Pitt and across academia.

The online event starts at 3:00 pm and is free, but registration is required.

Asian American Heritage Month Celebration with Jasmine Cho and Allegheny County Bar Association, May 26.

The Allegheny County Bar Association will host Jasmine Cho for an online Asian American Heritage Month Celebration on May 26.

All members are invited to join the ACBA Asian Attorneys Committee to celebrate Asian American Heritage month with special guest Jasmine Cho, a Pittsburgh-based artist, author and “cookie activist”. She is most known for using portrait cookies to elevate representation for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She is also a Food Network Champion (“Christmas Cookie Challenge” Season 3, Episode 8) and the Founder of Yummyholic. During this networking session, Cho will discuss and demonstrate her work. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required here.

The event starts at 5:30 pm and registration is required.

"Lessons in building civic leadership in Japan," online on May 25.

Kanoko Kamata from the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sociology is among the panelists speaking at "Lessons in building civic leadership in Japan" on May 25.

In our first session of the Organizations Learn series, we’ll be joined by Kanoko Kamata, Akira Nakajima, Toor Kuzumaki, and Ryutaro Arakawa from Community Organizing Japan 特定非営利活動法人コミュニティ・オーガナイジング・ジャパン (COJ). They will share lessons from their journey seeding and growing campaigns in a society with a strong stigma against social activism, and how they strategically built pathways to move people to action.

The event runs from 8:00 to 9:30 am ET---9:00 to 10:30 pm JST---and will have portions in Japanese with English translation. The cost is $10 for the general public, and registration by 11:59 on the 24th is required.

Shogun Assassin, which replaced the cancelled screening of Jet Li's Fearless at Carrie Carpool Cinema on May 22, has been cancelled.

The 1980 movie Shogun Assassin, scheduled to play at Carrie Furnace's Carrie Carpool Cinema on May 22nd, has been cancelled. It replaced the Jet Li film Fearless originally scheduled to play in that slot.

"Race, Faith and Health: Generations of Activism," May 26 at Pitt.

Church in Yeosu, South Korea, 2009.

The University of Pittsburgh's Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office presents "Race, Faith and Health: Generations of Activism" on May 26.

WEBINAR: In observance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish Heritage Month, this dialogue, moderated by Emiola Jay Oriola, Program Manager, Office of Interfaith Dialogue and Engagement, will bring together prominent members of the Jewish and Asian American communities to discuss activism in America spanning the generations.

The event runs from 12:00 to 1:30 pm and registration is required.