IUP's 2014 Foreign Film Festival begins February 9, includes one Chinese-Korean film.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced today its lineup for the 2014 Foreign Film Festival, which begins on February 9. A movie of relevance to this blog won't show until April 27, with Dooman River (두만강). From The Global Film Initiative:

Writer-director Zhang Lu’s fascinating window into a rarely seen corner of rural China revolves around 12-year-old Chang-ho, living with his grandfather and mute sister along the frozen river-border with North Korea. Although fraught with unemployment and other tensions, his community seems sympathetic toward the Korean refugees fleeing famine and misery; Chang-ho even bonds over soccer with one young border-crosser who comes scavenging food for a sibling. But he soon turns on his new friend as suspicions mount against the illegal immigrants and his sister reels from unexpected aggression, provoking a quandary over his loyalties in an exquisitely detailed story of compassion and strife across an uneasy geopolitical border.

IUP's festival website has not been updated yet with movie profiles and correct dates, but films will be shown in McVitty Auditorium, Sprowls Hall (campus map) and are free and open to the public.

Linsanity at CMU, February 22.

The 2014 Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival will show Linsanity, a documentary on Taiwanese-American basketball player Jeremy Lin, on February 22 as one of its "Sneak Previews". From a press release:

What do faith, ambition, and basketball have in common? For Jeremy Lin, NBA stardom didnot just happen overnight. Lin, an American basketball player of Taiwanese descent, managed to achieve great success without the aid of any athletic scholarships or drafts upon graduating from Harvard University. In this inspiring story of perseverance, Lin proves that a player of only 6 foot 3 can make it to the top. Now a crucial member of the Houston Rockets, Lin attributes his ability to overcome obstacles to loving family support and devout Christian beliefs. In Linsanity, we watch as Lin shoots hoops and stays positive before going onto achieve NBA fame--a true "slam dunk" of a film. This riveting event is co-sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University's Chinese Students & Scholars Association (CSSA) and the Taiwanese Students Association (TSA).

Come enjoy a special post-screening discussion with producer Allen Lu (perhaps he will reveal some secrets about what it was like to work behind the set with Jeremy Lin). Signed DVDs, posters, and t-shirts will be available for sale, and a reception with samples of delicious Chinese cuisine will be provided for the first 200 guests.

Linsanity will play at McConomy Auditorium (campus map) at 7:00 pm. Tickets are currently available online at the festival's website, and are $5 for CMU students and $8 for everyone else.

Eat at 피츠버그.

Sochi is timely, but it isn't the only foreign city to have Pittsburgh restaurants. South Korea has a pair in Gyeonggi province: a bar in Siheung (경기 시흥시 은행로144번길 21-1) and a pizza place (경기 안산시 상록구 초당2길 14) in Ansan. They appear here courtesy of Daum's Road View:





There is also a hamburger restaurant with locations in Seoul and Boryeong called 더피츠버거, which is how "The Pittsburgher" would be romanized but is written PizBurger, a portmanteau of two primary menu items.

LIke Father, Like Son (そして父になる) at Harris Theater, from February 21.

The 2013 Japanese film Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) will be in Pittsburgh from February 21 through 27 at the Harris Theater downtown.

Prolific filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda (Afterlife, Maborosi, Nobody Knows) continues to recall master director Ozu with his tender films of family life in modern Japan. Here, Ryota is a successful Tokyo architect who works long hours to provide for his wife, Midori and six-year-old son, Keita. But when a blood test reveals Keita and another baby were switched at birth, two very different families are forced to make a difficult decision, while Ryota confronts his own issues of responsibility and what it means to be a father. This story of personal redemption is both moving and playful.

The movie arrived in the US in January. It will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles, and showtimes will be announced later in the month are now posted on the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website. The Harris Theater is located downtown in the Cultural District (map).

Lao-language The Rocket at Harris Theater from February 7.

Australian Lao-language film The Rocket will play at the Harris Theater from February 7 through February 13. It was one of four films to open the 2013 Three Rivers Film Festival last fall.

In "The Rocket," a boy believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by war, he tries to prove he's not cursed by building a giant rocket and entering the most lucrative and dangerous competition of the year, the Rocket Festival.

In Lao with English subtitles, "The Rocket" is Australia's submission for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 86th Academy Awards.

The Harris Theater is located downtown in the Cultural District (map).

Every Day is a Holiday at Sewickley Academy, February 9.

As part of the Silk Screen Film Series, on February 9 Sewickley Academy will show the 2012 documentary Every Day is a Holiday, which summarizes itself thus:

Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong creates an intimate portrait of her father, a man fifty years her senior. In this documentary, we explore the bonds of the father-daughter relationship and place themes of growing older, immigration and racism in the context of “living history.” Paul Loong talks of his experiences as a POW in Japan and his subsequent quest to become an American. We discover why, despite much suffering, “Every Day Is a Holiday.”

The film starts at 2 pm and is free, though online registration is required. Sewickley Academy (map) is a private K-12 school in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Tiger & Bunny: The Rising at Hollywood Theater, March 15 and 16.

Today the Hollywood Theater in Dormont (map) announced a screening of the upcoming Japanese animated film Tiger & Bunny: The Rising on March 15 and March 16. Tickets are $15 and are available online for both shows (15th and 16th) from 1:00 pm on January 31.

Chinaman's festal period.

The Mansfield Daily Shield out of Mansfield, PA, profiled the Lunar New Year in 1902. The language and the tone are about what one would expect, though the piece does tell us how many Chinese women lived in Pittsburgh at the time:

Ahead of the Lunar New Year on January 31, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks at "how to shop at Pittsburgh's Asian markets" and profiles several of the region's largest East Asian grocery stores.

Here in Pittsburgh, four markets are big draws for the city's Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese communities. Lotus Food Co. at 1649 Penn Ave. is perhaps the most well-known. With its prime location in the heart of the Strip, and the allure of house-made tofu, Lotus attracts a diverse clientele. On a typical Saturday morning, customers stand shoulder to shoulder in checkout lines.

Wang Fat Hong, just up the block at 2227 Penn Ave., is another stalwart. Open since 1995, it caters to both restaurant and retail customers. Further down the Strip, shoppers are being courted by the newest Asian store, Many More Market, which is looking to appeal to students. And up on McKnight Road, three-year-old Oriental Market caters to suburban customers.

Japanese animated short film Possessions at Regent Square Theater, from January 31.

On January 31, the Regent Square Theater (map) will present the five pieces nominated for an Oscar in the Short Films (Animated) category for 2014, one of which is the Japanese short Possessions. Toonzone provides a summary:

[A] wanderer in Japan is caught in a storm and seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned house. However, he soon finds that perhaps he should have taken his chances in the storm, as he is confronted with a succession of bizarre household objects come to life, threatening this intruder on their domain.

To some degree, “Posssessions” is a “how are we getting there?” story. The short exploits enough visual tricks and hints early on that we’re not that surprised when something leaps out at the unnamed traveler and goes, “Boo!” What is surprising is the form that these spooks take, and the traveler’s reaction to them. The burly traveler is coarse and unrefined, reminding me of Toshiro Mifune’s performance as Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai, but he is also quite resourceful and surprisingly unflappable. Much of the fun of “Possessions” comes from waiting for the form of whatever strange household item is about to turn up; much of the rest comes from seeing how the traveler’s initial shock turns to adapting and enduring.

The program of five films begins on Friday, January 31, at 7:00 pm. Additional times for the first week available via the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website.