Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) at Pitt, October 17.

The 1997 film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) will play at the University of Pittsburgh on October 17 as part of the occasional Spectacles Film Series, presented by the Department of Religious Studies. A 1999 Roger Ebert four-star review summarizes:

Hayao Miyazaki is a great animator, and his "Princess Mononoke" is a great film. Do not allow conventional thoughts about animation to prevent you from seeing it. It tells an epic story set in medieval Japan, at the dawn of the Iron Age, when some men still lived in harmony with nature and others were trying to tame and defeat it. It is not a simplistic tale of good and evil, but the story of how humans, forest animals and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order. It is one of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.

The event starts at 6:00 pm in 120 Lawrence Hall (map).

Love in the 1980s (1980年代的愛情), October 11 at Maridon Museum.

The next installment of this fall's film series at the Maridon Museum is the 2015 Chinese movie 1980年代的愛情. A Film Business Asia review provides an overview:

Gongmu township, central China, autumn 1982. After graduating from university, and as part of his "grassroots" government training, Guan Yubo (Lu Fangsheng) is assigned to the remote, mountainous township of the Tujia ethnic minority to work as its publicity/education officer. Xiang Yu'e (Li Shutong), his girlfriend from college, has to remain in the city. Yubo works directly under the mayor, whose current government challenge is to meet birth-control quotas. Feeling lonely, Yubo befriends an old cook, Tian, who used to be a teacher but whose career was destroyed by an anti-rightist campaign. One day Yubo bumps into his secret first love from high school, Cheng Liwen (Yang Caiyu), who happens to be in the township working in a local shop. She's polite but uncommunicative. Unlike Yubo, she didn't manage to get into university, due to her family's political problems. Later, the two of them visit her father, who now lives alone in the mountains, making wooden birdcages. Gradually the two grow close but then, after six months, Yubo's term of service ends and it comes time for him to leave.

The movie starts at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public, though reservations are required to be made by phone: 724-282-0123. The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler (map) that runs film series periodically throughout the year, in addition to art classes, book club meetings, and its regular exhibits.

Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) playing in Pittsburgh, October 28, 29, 30.

The 2001 Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) will play in Pittsburgh as part of GKIDS Studio Ghibli Fest 2018 from October 28 through 30.

Japanese Conversation Tables at Pitt, starting October 5.

"Osaka, Japan" by Pedro Szekely (Creative Commons)

Pitt's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will begin its Japanese Conversation Tables today. It's a chance for native Japanese speakers and members of the Pitt community learning Japanese to meet and practice outside of the classroom. The sessions meet in 244A of the Cathedral of Learning (map) from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm on October 5, October 19, November 2, and November 30.

Vietnamese coffee with Art Labor, a Ho Chi Minh City-based artist collective, October 13 at CMOA.

Hammock Café in Seoul, via artlaborcollective.com.

As part of the opening celebration for the 2018 Carnegie International on October 13, the Carnegie Museum of Art will host Vietnamese coffee with Art Labor, a participant in this year's exhibition.

Art Labor is an artist collective based in Ho Chi Minh City, who work in between visual arts, social and life sciences in various public contexts and locales. We do not produce single artwork but develop many-year-long journey during which one inspiration is a seed to cultivate. The seed grows – the inspiration expands and bears into rhizome of projects and artworks.

The artists introduce their Hammock Café installation:

Jrai Dew hammock café is part of Art Labor’s long-term project ‘Jrai Dew’, which projects critically the cost of capitalized world through mythic narratives. It takes inspiration from Jarai belief in the human and the cosmos. In their philosophy, being human is a part of the metamorphosis cycle of the nature. After death, the journey going back to their origin ends at becoming dew (ia ngôm in Jrai language) evaporating to the environment – the state of non-being – the beginning particles of new existence. In this metaphorical context, forestland with its people is the vanishing dew, while new existence of modernization and industrialization arise. By using products and symbols that either belong to the Central Highlands of Vietnam or related to the violent changes in history, Jrai Dew leads to a scene of human chaos however in a poetic and dreamy way.

The event is held in the Heinz Gallery C from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and is open to those who purchased museum admission. The museum is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by buses 28X, 58, 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71B, 71D, 75, and P3.

2018 Korean Music Festival, November 3.

The Korean Association of Greater Pittsburgh and the Korean Heritage Room will present the 2018 Korean Music Festival on Saturday, November 3. It will start at 7:00 pm at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium in Oakland (map). The event is $10 for adults, free for students and children, and half-price for those who come dressed in hanbok.

Silk Screen ceases operations after allegations of abuse and sexual harassment against staff and volunteers.

Pittsburgh Current has a lengthy article on the Silk Screen Film Festival and its decision to cease operations after allegations of abuse and sexual harassment against its diretor. KDKA News has a video report on it as well. For its part, the organization says its folding is "part of a long-planned board decision due to financial challenges."

1977 Japanese film House (ハウス) at Row House CInema, October 6.

The 1977 Japanese psychedelic thriller House (ハウス) will play at the Row House Cinema on October 6. "The film," says Wikipedia,

is about a schoolgirl traveling with her six classmates to her ailing aunt's country home, where they come face to face with supernatural events as the girls are, one by one, devoured by the home.

House played at Row House in 2017 as part of that year's Japanese Film Festival.

The October 6 screening starts at 11:59 pm; tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ～２人の英雄) continues in Pittsburgh, October 4 and 6.

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ～２人の英雄), which opened in Pittsburgh on September 25, will continue past its original run with additional screenings on October 4 and 6.

China Town Hall events at Pitt, October 9.

There will be two free China Town Hall events at the University of Pittsburgh on October 9 to accompany a live webcast with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. One event will be held at the Pitt Law Building and will feature an in-person presentation by Dr. Cynthia Watson of the National War College.

CHINA Town Hall is a national conversation on China taking place in scores of communities throughout the United States and in Greater China. The two-part event features an interactive webcast discussion and Q&A with Secretary Rice on the complex Sino-American relationship, as well as an expert speaker on-site to discuss specific China-related issues that have an impact on the local community.

Opportunities to submit questions to Secretary Rice in advance will be emailed to attendees shortly before the event. Attendance is free but seating is limited, so registration is necessary.

After the live webcast with Secretary Rice, our local expert, Dr. Cynthia Watson from the National War College, will give a brief presentation on China’s role in regional security. Audience Q&A will follow.

The event starts at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public, though registration is required.
Another event will be hosted by the Asian Studies Center and will feature economist Martin Chorzempa.

China Town Hall is a national day of programming on China involving 70 cities throughout the United States. This year's event will feature a local guest speaker at 4:30 pm. We have invited Martin Chorzempa who is a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who will talk about China's social credit system followed by a live national webcast with Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.

This event starts at 4:30, will be held at 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.