Dumpling Tour of Squirrel Hill, and International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference, postponed until October.

At Everyday Noodles, by Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Magazine.

The Dumpling Tour of Squirrel Hill, originally scheduled for March 27, has been postponed until October along with the conference that is hosting it. From Pittsburgh Magazine:

“At IACP, the health of our speakers, families, and communities is paramount to us. We have been following news reports and updates from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control closely. As the virulent coronavirus continues to spread, including today in Pennsylvania—like Expo West, the International Housewares Show and the International Food Summit—we have decided today to postpone the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference to Tuesday night through Thursday, October 13-15, 2020,” the organization writes in a press release.

[Press release] Fifth Annual Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema Tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi, New Anime, Opening & Closing Night Festivities.

Fifth Annual Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema
Tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi, New Anime, Opening & Closing Night Festivities

Row House Cinema is excited to announce the dates and films for the 2020 Japanese Film Festival, happening March 20 – April 2 at the Lawrenceville theater.

Entering its fifth year, the festival is a two-week celebration of the wide variety of new films coming out of Japan in addition to timeless classics, cult films, and cutting-edge anime not shown anywhere else in Pittsburgh.

“We anticipate people coming in from Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Buffalo to what has become the largest Japanese Film Festival in the Rust Belt,” said Brian Mendelssohn, owner of Row House Cinema. “This festival is a prime destination for film lovers. Those looking for an exciting lineup and fresh cultural events will not be disappointed.”

The 2020 Opening Night features the Pittsburgh premiere of The Island of Cats – the debut film of animal wildlife photographer Mitsuaki Iwago – and attendees can expect the theater to be transformed into an island of all things “cat.” Each ticket comes with popcorn, Ramune Japanese soda, adorable cat swag, photo opportunities with cat guests, live cats on-site and more!

The Closing Night festivities feature a mashup of Japan’s craziest TV game shows, and then a screening of Rise of the Machine Girls (the insane new offering from the Japanese Exploitation genre) both of which will be accompanied by a variety of beers brought to attendee’s seats. Attendees 21+ Only,

Film lineup, trailers, and tickets can be found on the Japanese Film Festival website www.jffpgh.org

1963 Kurosawa film High and Low (天国と地獄) in Pittsburgh, from March 13.

The 1963 Akira Kurosawa film High and Low (天国と地獄) will play at the Row House Cinema from March 13 to 19, part of the theater's Film Noir series. The Criterion Collection provides a summary:

Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku), the highly influential domestic drama and police procedural from director Akira Kurosawa. Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society.

Tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain opens March 14 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

Untitled, Sapa, 1995, via anmyle.com

An exhibition by Vietnamese-American photographer An-My Lê will open March 14 at the Carnegie Museum of Art. A summary of On Contested Terrain:

An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain is the first comprehensive survey of the politically charged work of photographer An-My Lê (American, born Vietnam, 1960). Featuring over 100 photographs, this exhibition presents seven of Lê’s series, providing insight into her evocative images that draw on a landscape tradition to address the complexity of war.

Intimate and timely, this expansive exhibition explores the intricacies of armed combat through the work of a photographer who lived through the Vietnam War. Through Lê’s lens, viewers are exposed to military training, maneuvers, and reenactments, and are invited to question their own relationship to, and complicity in, conflict.

Southside Works Cinema to close.

Southside Works Cinema will close as part of an attempt to revitalize the struggling shopping center. The cinema has long been one of the few places in the city to see new (and classic) Asian films, owing in large part to its distribution deals with places like Funimation Films, Eleven Arts, Fathom Events, and GKIDS. The health of Row House Cinema notwithstanding, between this, the failure of Pittsburgh Filmmakers Theaters, the sudden closure of Silk Screen (due to rampant sexual harassment within the non-profit), and the reorganization of the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, it has been a rough few years for Asian film in Pittsburgh.

Sine Trading International (赛因国际贸易) hiring Chinese Customer Service representative (中文客服).

Manchester-based Sine Trading International (赛因国际贸易) is hiring a Chinese-speaking customer service representative.

Sine Trading International (www.SineTrading.com), a fast growing company providing international logistics, Customs Clearance and domestic shipping to companies nationwide, is expanding fast and in need of a full time customer service who can speak Chinese. The successful applicant will focus on answering customer inquiries by email and instant messenger, and other office work assigned. This is a full time position in Pittsburgh, PA.

2019 Chinese film So Long, My Son (地久天长) at Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, March 27.

Tickets just went on sale for this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, which will feature the 2019 Chinese film So Long, My Son (地久天长) on March 27.

In the mid-1980s, two families work together in a factory in northern China. They are very close. So are their sons, who were born on the same day. But then a tragic accident pulls the families apart and, as China’s dramatic social transformation generates increasing inequalities, they follow very different paths both geographically and in economic terms. Will they ever be able to reconcile with one another and their shared but separating pasts? Moving backwards and forwards from the accident through four decades of Chinese history, acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai carefully constructs an epic, deeply moving drama of ordinary lives and severed connections in the midst of extraordinary social change.

Tickets for the 7:00 pm show are now available online. It will play at the McConomy Auditorium of Cohon University Center (map).

Bubble tea chain 朝茶 TSAOCAA opening location in Squirrel Hill.

Construction progresses on 朝茶 TSAOCAA, a new bubble tea place coming to 5871 Forbes Ave. (map). 朝茶 TSAOCAA is a chain with locations in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, among a few other cities. The spot was most recently home to Kidz and Company.

New restoration of 2003 Satoshi Kon film Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) in Pittsburgh, March 9 and 11.

A 2020 restoration of the 2003 animated Satoshi Kon film Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) will play in Pittsburgh on March 9 and 11. From the distributor:

Tokyo Godfathers,the acclaimed holiday classic from master director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Perfect Blue), returns to theaters in a brand-new digital restoration.

On Christmas Eve, three homeless companions stumble upon a baby girl in a garbage heap. They name her Kiyoko, and vow to care for her as they track down her family. Haunted by memories of their own broken pasts and pursued by a cast of shadowy characters from Tokyo’s nightlife, Hana, Gin and Miyuki overcome their differences and learn to trust one another as a new, makeshift family. With the New Year fast approaching, the mystery behind baby Kiyoko deepens, and these unlikely heroes discover the surprising – and sometimes miraculous – connections that have brought them all together.

Co-written by Keiko Nobumoto (Cowboy Bebop) and featuring a whimsical score by Keiichi Suzuki, Tokyo Godfathersis a masterpiece by turns heartfelt, hilarious and highly original, a tale of hope and redemption in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

The movie will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Robinson. The March 9 shows are in Japanese with English subtitles and the March 11 shows are dubbed in English. Tickets are available online.

Asian Student Alliance Advocacy Summit, March 21 at Pitt.

The Asian Student Alliance at the University of Pittsburgh will hold its first Advocacy Summit on Saturday, March 21.

Pitt Asian Student Alliance's mission statement is as follows: "(ASA) exists to further the development of Asian and Asian American identity and interest...We discuss identity and current social issues pertaining to Asians in the United States..." ASA is well known for being a large social organization where people who identify as Asian and Asian American can come to make friends, learn about their culture, and become civically engaged with issues pertaining to the AAPI community.

And so, with that being said, we would like to welcome you to our first ever Advocacy Summit! By attending this event, you will be exposed to many different topics and issues that the AAPI community faces and challenges daily. We hope that you will learn from the workshops and your peers, provide valuable input into the discussions we'll be having, and leave feeling empowered.

There will be five different workshops being held in two different blocks. You will be able to go to up to TWO unique workshops, and if you didn’t get to go to a workshop you wanted to go to, you can always contact the facilitators! The description of the workshops can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SNUAzKxkpRTxMBNLUfHVAAynCYb8XYENDdMhbzZqo3U/edit?usp=sharing

It runs from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in David Lawrence Hall (map). Those interested in attending should sign up here.