The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (夢と狂気の王国) at Harris Theater, November 16; in Oakland, November 18.

The 2014 documentary on Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (夢と狂気の王国), will play at the Harris Theater on November 16 and at the Melwood Screening Room on November 18, as part of the 2014 Three Rivers Film Festival. The festival's website summarizes:

Go inside Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese animation studio that created such beloved classics as “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” and “Princess Mononoke,” with this fascinating new documentary. The film, fresh off the screens in Toronto, offers unprecedented access to the work of producer Toshio Suzuki and world-renowned filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and establishes the studio as an enchanted workshop. Talking, drawing, musing – to watch these artists in conversation with their teams is to begin to understand the success of Studio Ghibli.

The Harris Theater showing is at 2:00 pm (tickets), and the Melwood Screening Room showing on the 18th (tickets) starts at 7:30. Tickets for both are $9.

Golden Dragon Acrobats performance at Pitt on 11/14 cancelled.

The Chinese American Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh informs us that the Golden Dragon Acrobats performance scheduled for November 14 has been cancelled. The nearest the troupe will come to the city is Grove City College on November 20.

Golden Dragon Acrobats at Grove City College, November 20.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats will be at Grove City College on November 20.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats represent the best of a time honored tradition that began more than twenty-five centuries ago. The Golden Dragons are recognized throughout the United States and abroad as the premiere Chinese acrobatic touring company of today.

The reputation of the company is solidly rooted in a commitment to the highest of production values and an attention to artistic details that is unparalleled in the art form. World renowned impresario Danny Chang and choreographer Angela Chang combine award-winning acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present a show of breathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty.

The show starts at 7:30 pm in Ketler Auditorium of the Pew Fine Arts Center (map). General admission tickets are $15, while tickets for children and current Grove City College students are $5. Grove City College is located in Mercer County, roughly 60 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Taiwanese-French movie Stray Dogs (郊遊) at Harris Theater on November 14, Melwood Screening Room on November 19.

The Taiwanese-French drama Stray Dogs (郊遊) will play at the Harris Theater on November 14 as part of the 2014 Three Rivers Film Festival, and at the Melwood Screening Room on November 19. The festival's website summarizes the 2013 film:

A father and his two children live in the margins of modern day Taipei. By day he scrapes out a meager income as a human billboard for luxury apartments, while his young son and daughter roam the supermarkets and malls surviving off free food samples. Each night the family takes shelter in an abandoned building. One day the family is joined by a mysterious woman. Might she be the key to unlocking the past? This existentialist study of human endurance won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Venice Film Festival.

The Harris Theater (map) show starts at 4:30 pm on the 14th (tickets), and the Melwood Screening Room (map) show at 7:30 pm (tickets). Tickets are $9.

Japanese film R100 at Waterworks Cinemas on November 13.

The Japanese movie R100 will play at Waterworks Cinemas on November 13, part of this year's Three Rivers Film Festival. The festival's website summarizes the 2013 film:

A fixture in film and comedy in his native country, director Hitoshi Matsumoto is raising underground cinema to an impressive level. This midnight film is about a frustrated, mild-mannered salesman with a secret. He spends his days at his meaningless office job, at night he cares for his young son and comatose wife. When he enters an unbreakable contract with an S&M club, his routine is upended and his life turns increasingly outrageous. This surreal sex dramedy includes detours into genre parody, dreamlike imagery, even a meta-themed subplot in which a censorship committee attempts to classify the movie itself.

The movie starts at 9:00 pm, and tickets are $9 for general admission and $5 for children 12 and under. The Waterworks Cinema multiplex is part of the Waterworks Mall near Fox Chapel, across the Allegheny River from Highland Park (map).

Kano: Soul of Baseball at Taiwanese Film Festival at CMU, November 13.

The Taiwanese Film Festival at Carnegie Mellon University, which will begin on November 12th, will finish on the 13th with Kano: Soul of Baseball and a discussion with its director Umin Boya. The Taiwanese Scholar Society summarizes the 2014 film:

This movie based on an inspiring Taiwanese history in 1931 when Taiwan was ruled by Japan. A high school in southern Taiwan overcame all the odds and obstacles to form a baseball team. The team presented Taiwan to compete at Japanese High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium. The underdog team advanced to the championship game in the tournament beyond all expectation.

The movie starts at 6:00 pm and is in University Center McConomy Auditorium from 6 (campus map). Tickets are $10 and may be purchased in advance online with Paypal. To purchase tickets or to read more about the film festival, visit the event's website.

"The Politics of Migration Control in Asia" lecture at Pitt, November 14.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Erin Chung of Johns Hopkins University and her lecture "The Politics of Migration Control in Asia" on November 14.

[I]n South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, where immigration is tightly controlled and integration programs are at their infancy, the catchword, “multiculturalism,” has gained popularity among policymakers and the public alike. This paper argues that the variants of multiculturalism developing in the three countries represent each society’s attempt to improve upon what policymakers view as the failures of multiculturalism—and, more broadly, diversity—in traditional countries of immigration. Multicultural discourse and programs ostensibly attempt to promote greater diversity and openness in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan; yet, they are more notable for the ways in which specific categories of foreigners are included and excluded. Whereas “multicultural society” in Korea signifies a broadened definition of Korean national identity to include specific categories of “overseas Koreans” and foreign spouses, “multicultural coexistence” in Japan has further narrowed conceptions of Japanese national identity to exclude ethnic Japanese (Nikkei) foreigners. The arrival of new immigrants to Taiwan has shaped a type of hierarchical “multiculturalism” with native ethnic groups at the top, non-Chinese migrants in the middle, and mainland Chinese marriage migrants at the bottom. Using interview and focus group data of the major foreign communities in each country, I analyze how government officials, the media, pro-immigrant advocacy groups, and immigrants themselves define and negotiate these frameworks.

The lecture begins at 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map), and is free and open to the public.

Winds of September (九降風) and Monga (艋舺) at Taiwanese film festival at CMU, November 12.

Carnegie Mellon University will host a Taiwanese Film Festival on November 12 and 13, presented by the Taiwanese Scholars Society, with the movies Winds of September (九降風) and Monga (艋舺) on the first day. Tickets for these two movies are $5 a piece, and comprise the "Taiwan Classical Movies" set on the 12th. LoveHKFilm.com summarizes Winds of September:

Tang is one of seven friends of varying high school years. Collectively, the group is known as a bunch of troublemakers, though some of the gang are worse than others. The charismatic assumed leader is Yen , a handsome playboy whose prim girlfriend Yun has to put up with incessant stories of his infidelity. The problem reaches a tipping point when Yen sleeps with another girl and her angry boyfriend comes calling. Tang is mistaken for Yen and assaulted in his place, and the incident ultimately drives a minor wedge in the group. The situation is exacerbated by the other boys' individual conflicts and issues, and Yen and Tang nearly have a falling out. The two do seem to patch things up, but the cracks in the group's camaraderie begin to worsen. Some boys are pressured to drop the group, while others continue to misbehave, ignoring the damage it may have on their future. Ultimately, the boys' aimlessness results in a tragedy that further drives them apart, revealing the anger, cowardice, fear, jealousy, and helplessness that lives within them.

A South China Morning Post review says of Monga:

Set in Taipei’s once notorious Monga (known officially as Wanhua) neighbourhood in 1986-87, the narrative is part history lesson and part mob tale, but primarily an exploration of the ties that bind a group of sworn brothers.

The movies will be shown in Doherty Hall 2210 from 6:00 pm. Tickets may be purchased in advance online with Paypal; to purchase tickets or to read more about the film festival, visit the event's website.

Pirates are scouting Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are among the teams scouting Nexen shortstop Jung-ho Kang (강정호), who is expected to enter the Major Leagues next year. Star News spotted a Pirates' scout at Mokdong Stadium on the 7th for Game 3 of the Korean Series, the Korean Baseball Organization's championship round.

Welcome to the Space Show (宇宙ショーへようこそ) at Waterworks Cinema, November 9; in Oakland on November 13.

The Japanese animated movie Welcome to the Space Show (宇宙ショーへようこそ) will play at Waterworks Cinema on November 9 as part of the 2014 Three Rivers Film Festival, and at the Melwood Screening Room on November 13. The festival's website summarizes the 2010 film:

This sci-fi anime begins when a group of youngsters find an injured dog in the woods. But they discover he's not a dog at all, but Pochi, an alien botanist sent to Earth to track down a rare plant. Before long Pochi has whisked the kids away to a space colony on the dark side of the moon, an interstellar gathering place of humorous alien creatures, jellyfish spaceships, dragon trains, and – if that weren’t enough – a theme song from UK pop star Susan Boyle. This family film is suited for ages 7 and up. Dubbed in English.

The Waterworks Cinema (map) show starts at 1:30 (tickets), and the Melwood Screening Room (map) show at 9:00 pm (tickets). Tickets are $9 for general admission and $5 for children 12 and under.