Part of the Row House Cinema's 2nd annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival is Tsunami Punx: The Tōhoku Live House Movement, a documentary by Pittsburgh native and 2011 Tohoku earthquake survivor Matthew Ketchum on the tsunami and Japan's underground punk rock scene.
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 resulted in one of the most devastating tsunami’s the world has seen. In the aftermath, punk musicians and DIY organizers hailing from three Northern seaside towns formed a collective with the goal of erecting Live Houses amidst the ruin, creating an oasis for communities in defiance of the slow, tedious work of reconstruction.Ketchum runs the site Kaala.jp and has a weekly radio show on Sunday afternoons on WRCT 88.3 FM.
Thus, the Tohoku Live House Movement was begun. Soon enough, word reached Tokyo of their work, and a group of young filmmakers from Waseda University arrived to document the unlikely but colossal impact of the punk community on the lives of others. Even now, the Movement continues, sharing music & art wherever it is welcome and needed.
The show starts at 4:30 pm and the tickets are now on sale for $6.50. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).