New Hong Kong film Integrity (廉政風雲 煙幕) in Pittsburgh, from February 8.

The new Hong Kong film Integrity (廉政風雲 煙幕) will play in Pittsburgh from February 8. The distributor summarizes the film, which stars Sean Lau, Nick Cheung, and Karina Lam:

The multi-year ICAC investigation into the Lida Conglomerate is on the brink of collapse after the CEO’s disappearance and the whistleblower’s flight to England. To salvage the case, a top ICAC agent teams with a fellow investigator (who happens to be his estranged wife) and risks their lives to bring the witness back to Hong Kong.

The movie will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront. 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.

Tickets and showtimes are available online via Fandango. The theater is also showing two Chinese films that were released to coincide with the Lunar New Year: big budget space movie The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) and Han Han's Pegasus (飞驰人生)

Mirai (未来のミライ), Shoplifters (万引き家族), The Night is Short, Walk On Girl (夜は短し歩けよ乙女), Okko's Inn (若おかみは小学生), and many more to comprise 2019 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, March 29 through April 11.

Some information about this year's Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, running from March 29 through April 11 at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville, was announced yesterday morning. The line-up so far includes:

• Animated films Mirai (未来のミライ), Okko's Inn (若おかみは小学生), The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl (夜は短し歩けよ乙女), and Modest Heroes (ちいさな英雄－カニとタマゴと透明人間－)
• The acclaimed 2018 film Shoplifters (万引き家族)
• The zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead (カメラを止めるな!)
• Classics Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫) and Tokyo Story (東京物語)
• Documentaries Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (終わらない人 宮崎駿) and Day of the Western Sunrise.

Tickets and showtime information will be available later. Now in its fifth year, the Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival will play at the single-screen Row House Cinema at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Encore presentation of BTS Concert film BTS World Tour Love Yourself In Seoul, February 9 and 10.

Several Pittsburgh-area theaters will show an encore presentation of the BTS Concert film BTS World Tour Love Yourself In Seoul on February 9 and 10. The distributor provides a synopsis to the movie that first played in Pittsburgh on January 26:

Shot at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul during the BTS WORLD TOUR ‘LOVE YOURSELF’, an exclusive screening of the most sought-after concert of 2018 hits movie theaters nationwide for a one-day only event. This event will bring fans together to celebrate the seven members of the global boyband and their unprecedented international phenomenon.

The movie will play on the 9th at 11:00 am the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark Theaters in Monroeville and the North Hills. It will play at 11:00 am on the 10th at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark Theaters in Monaca and Pittsburgh Mills. Tickets are available online.

Korean film Burning (버닝) at Parkway Theater, February 8 - 14.

The 2018 Korean movie Burning (버닝 will play at the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks from February 8 - 14. Burning's official site provides a synopsis of the Korean film based on a Haruki Marukami short story:

BURNING is the searing examination of an alienated young man, Jongsu (Ah-in Yoo), a frustrated introvert whose already difficult life is complicated by the appearance of two people into his orbit: first, Haemi (newcomer Jong-seo Jun), a spirited woman who offers romantic possibility, and then, Ben (Steven Yeun, THE WALKING DEAD, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU), a wealthy and sophisticated young man she returns from a trip with. When Jongsu learns of Ben’s mysterious hobby and Haemi suddenly disappears, his confusion and obsessions begin to mount, culminating in a stunning finale.

Burning was the top domestic film in Korea during its first weekend in theaters.

The theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map). Showtime infomration is available online.

Chinese New Year Celebration at Ross Park Mall, February 9.

Ross Park Mall in the North Hills will hold a Chinese New Year Celebration on February 9.

Two new Chinese films, big budget space movie The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) and Han Han's Pegasus (飞驰人生), open in Pittsburgh for the Lunar New Year.

As is tradition, new Chinese films will open in Pittsburgh for the Lunar New Year. In 2019, it's new films The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) and Pegasus (飞驰人生) premiering across North America, and playing locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront.

The South China Morning Post summarizes The Wandering Earth, considered China's first big-budget science fiction film.

The film portrays how a group of intrepid Chinese astronauts save the world from the brink of annihilation due to the imminent destruction of the sun. Like Hollywood space movies where Americans are portrayed as the only ones capable of saving humanity, here Chinese astronauts are the sole adventurers among the global space community determined to complete the arduous task of fending off the apocalypse.

In spite of such overt patriotism, the film is spectacular for its ceaseless stream of hair-raising close-shave encounters and apocalyptic landscapes oozing desolation and despair. There is also a touching subplot involving family bonds at the centre of the mission to save the earth.

Wikipedia has a summary of Pegasus, the directoral debut of social media icon---and race car driver---Han Han.

Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) dreams of his former life in the racing world while tending to his fried rice stall. He sees a smug younger generation of drivers racing and decides to return to driving. The drama of the plot pivots on Zhang Chi having no car, money or teammates while has driver's license pends re-examination

Tickets and showtime information for The Wandering Earth and Pegasus are available online via Fandango. 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.

"Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year," February 5 and 6 in Pittsburgh.

The AMC Loews Waterfront theater will show "Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year" on February 5 and 6. USA Today summarizes the episode, which will air on Nickelodeon this morning:

In the Chinese Lunar New Year, 2019 is the Year of the Pig.

In a new episode of "Peppa Pig," the namesake character is learning a lot about the holiday as Madame Gazelle teaches everyone in her playgroup about the traditions.

The show features Peppa's group making a dragon costume, Chinese lanterns and fireworks. Two new characters also are introduced, Peggi and Pandora, who are the twin daughters of Police Officer Panda.

Showtimes and ticket information---there are six screenings in all---is 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.

Yeonmi Park: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, March 20 at Kelly Strayhorn Theater.

North Korean defector, author, and activist Yeonmi Park will speak at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty on March 20. Registration information is not yet available.

Made in Abyss: Journey's Dawn (劇場版総集編【前編】メイドインアビス 旅立ちの夜明け) in theaters in March.

Made in Abyss: Journey's Dawn (劇場版総集編【前編】メイドインアビス 旅立ちの夜明け), a 2019 compilation film from the popular anime series, will play in US theaters in March.

"Rights Make Might: Global Human Rights and Minority Social Movements in Japan," February 18 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sociology will host Kiyoteru Tsutsui and his talk "Rights Make Might: Global Human Rights and Minority Social Movements in Japan" on February 18.

Since the late 1970s, the three most salient minority groups in Japan - the politically dormant Ainu, the active but unsuccessful Koreans, and the former outcaste group of Burakumin - have all expanded their activism despite the unfavorable domestic political environment. In Rights Make Might, Kiyoteru Tsutsui examines why, and finds an answer in the galvanizing effects of global human rights on local social movements. Tsutsui chronicles the transformative impact of global human rights ideas and institutions on minority activists, which changed their understandings about their standing in Japanese society and propelled them to new international venues for political claim making. The global forces also changed the public perception and political calculus in Japan over time, catalyzing substantial gains for their movements. Having benefited from global human rights, all three groups repaid their debt by contributing to the consolidation and expansion of human rights principles and instruments outside of Japan. Drawing on interviews and archival data, Rights Make Might offers a rich historical comparative analysis of the relationship between international human rights and local politics that contributes to our understanding of international norms and institutions, social movements, human rights, ethnoracial politics, and Japanese society.

The talk runs from 4:00 to 5:30 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.