2019 film Promare (プロメア) returns to Pittsburgh for redux, December 8.

The 2019 Japanese animated film Promare (プロメア) will return to Pittsburgh on December 8. The distributor summarizes:

The first feature-length film from the acclaimed studio TRIGGER, creators of the hit series KILL la KILL and Little Witch Academia, and director Hiroyuki Imaishi (GURREN LAGANN, KILL la KILL), Promare uses a bold cel-shaded visual style to tell a blistering action-adventure story, and is the spiritual successor to many of director Imaishi’s former works.

Thirty years has passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves “Mad Burnish” appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish” begins.

It will play locally at the Southside Works Cinema---tickets are now available online---though tickets for other locations are to be announced on November 1.

Susan Lieu and "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" at Pitt, November 12.

The University of Pittsburgh's Vietnamese Student Association will host playwright Susan Lieu and her "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" on November 12.

The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) at the University of Pittsburgh works to promote diversity, awareness, and visibility of Vietnamese culture to people of all backgrounds within the campus community. We believe that bringing Susan Lieu, a Vietnamese-American playwright, would be an amazing opportunity to provide both an educational and emotional experience regarding the Vietnamese refugee experience. Lieu sheds light on the unimaginable ideals of Vietnamese feminine beauty and addresses body insecurity, grief, and trauma through her solo theatrical performance “140LBS: HOW BEAUTY KILLED MY MOTHER," which achieved sold-out openings in Seattle and San Francisco. She now has a national tour with stops in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities. "140 LBS" is a true story of how Susan’s mother died from medical malpractice, her search for the man responsible, and the painful uncovering of her mother’s life. We are collaborating with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, English Department, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department, Outside the Classroom Curriculum (OCC), and Department of Theatre Arts. The expression of advocacy through the storytelling form of a solo show should not be missed during the Year of Creativity here at the University of Pittsburgh. We hope to reach a wide range of people from the Asian-American community, Asian Studies Center, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, English Department, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department, Outside the Classroom Curriculum (OCC), and the Department of Theatre Arts through this event. We are both excited and grateful to collaborate with these university departments to bring Lieu to Pittsburgh as her performance resonates with our shared experiences growing up as Vietnamese-Americans.

Refreshments will be provided. This event is free to all Pitt students and faculty, $10 for Carnegie Mellon students, and $15 for the general public. Proceeds and donations will be donated to Asylum Access, an organization that aids refugees in human rights and advocates for policy reform.

It will be held from 7:00 pm at the Charity Randall Theatre at 4301 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

"Why BTS? Why K-pop? Global Success and UK Reception," October 24 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center presents Dr. Haekyung Um and her talk "Why BTS? Why K-pop? Global Success and UK Reception" on October 24.

The international breakthrough of BTS is marked by their success in the USA and their albums, Love Yourself: Tear and Love Yourself: Answer, in May and September respectively. Their EP Mal of the Soul: Persona, released in April 2019, also topped both the UK Official Chart and teh US Billboard 200 Chart. The global, US, and UK reception of BTS in the past few years, has shed a light on how K-op has been evolving and how Asian pop music genres have been received by both the mainstream music industry and consumers in the west. This process has been taking place in the context of a fast-changing ecology of the creative industries, shaped by digital technology and social media, which in turn mobilize and above all, empower the fandom and audiences engaged in this music form.

The talk starts at 5:00 pm in 232 Cathedral of Learning (map) and is free and open to the public.

2019 Japanese animated film Human Lost (人間失格) in Pittsburgh, October 22 and 23.

The 2019 Japanese animated film Human Lost (人間失格) will play in Pittsburgh on October 22 and 23. From the distributor:

From the chief director of PSYCHO-PASS, director of Afro Samurai, and the studio that brought you Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters.

The year is 2036. A revolution in medical treatment has conquered death by means of internal nanomachines and the “Shell System”, yet only the richest can afford to partake.

Yozo Oba isn’t the richest. Troubled by strange dreams, he flippantly joins his friend’s biker gang on an ill-fated incursion to “The Inside”, where society’s elite lives. This instigates a journey of terrifying discovery that will change Yozo’s life forever.

It will play at the Southside Works Cinema and tickets are available online. The 22nd's screening will be in Japanese while the 23rd's will be dubbed in English.

2019 Takashi Miike film First Love (初恋) in Pittsburgh, October 18 - 24.

The 2019 Takashi Miike film First Love (初恋) will play in Pittsburgh from October 18 through 24. The distributor provides a brief summary:

The film is the prolific auteur, Takashi Miike, at his most fun and anarchic, a noir-tinged yakuza film blending genres in the story of a young boxer and a call girl, who fall passionately in love while getting innocently caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme over the course of one night in Tokyo.

It will play at the Regent Square Theater at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) and tickets are now available online.

New Chinese movie The Captain (中国机长) in Pittsburgh, from October 18.

The 2019 Chinese film The Captain (中国机长) will play in Pittsburgh from October 18. The distributor writes of the film, based on the 2018 Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 incident:

Director Andrew Lau's cinematic portrayal of the most miraculous emergency landing in the contemporary history of Chinese aviation.

It has been the top film in China the past two weekends and is currently the fifth-highest grossing film of the year there, despite not being released until September 30. It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available on the theater's site. 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 film My People, My Country (我和我的祖国) to continue in Pittsburgh through October 23.

The 2019 Chinese film My People, My Country (我和我的祖国), which opened in Pittsburgh on October 1, will continue here through at least October 23. The Chinese government provides an overview:

The film production "My People, My Country" provides grand and ambitious scale narratives spanning seven decades of the People's Republic of China to capture historical moments, but through the unique perspectives of ordinary people.

The film, set to dominate China's 70th National Day holiday season, is a combination of seven short films by seven elite Chinese directors headed by award-winning veterans Chen Kaige and Huang Jianxin.

The film's focus is not about the historical moments themselves, but is through an ordinary people's perspective to portray those who were dedicated to or affected by the historical moments.

Despite just being released in China on September 30, it is the fourth highest-grossing film of the year there. It plays at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. 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.

"Curative Violence: Rehabilitating Disability, Gender, And Sexuality In Modern Korea," November 1 at Pitt.

Eunjung Kim of Syracuse University will discuss her book Curative Violence: Rehabilitating Disability, Gender, And Sexuality In Modern Korea at the University of Pittsburgh on November 1.

Bong Joon-ho film Parastie (기생충) in Pittsburgh from November 1.

Tickets just went on sale for Pittsburgh screenings of the acclaimed 2019 Bong Joon-ho film Parastie (기생충), which will play locally from November 1.

Bong Joon Ho brings his singular mastery home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale.

Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.

Parasite won the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It will play at the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill (map) from November 1 and tickets are available online.

Wang Lu's "Manifold" with Yangjin, October 19.

Alia Musica will present a performance of Wang Lu's "Manifold" on October 19 in Oakland.

Alia Musica partners with Yangjin in a special event of music for the pipa and various ensembles.

The concert includes a 12-player chamber version of Wang Lu's "Manifold," commissioned and premiered at the Festival of Firsts in Downtown Pittsburgh in 2018.

Plus music by HouYuan Wu, Zhanhao He, Vittorio Monti, Xing Liu, Chang Liu, and Astor Piazzola's Libertango.

Tickets are currently available online for $10. The performance runs from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Bellefield Hall in Oakland (map).