Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, among panelists in "Bitter Fruit: The Poison of America’s Racism" at 2021 Pitt Diversity Forum, July 28.

Dr. Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, is among the featured speakers at the University of Pittsburgh's 2021 Diversity Forum. Dr. Jeung is a professor in the Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University, and Stop AAPI Hate is summarized:

In response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate coalition on March 19, 2020. The coalition tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

He will be a panelist for "Bitter Fruit: The Poison of America’s Racism" on July 28:

Dr. Keisha N. Blain will be joined by paenelists for a broad conversation on American racism and how it has shaped the experiences of various groups, including Asian Americans, Black Americans, and the Latinx community. The panel will explore historical and contemporary issues while considering how racism has been embedded in American politics, journalism, education, culture, and other aspects of society. This overview will include discussion of the Covid-19 pandemic, the uprisings during the last year, the January 6th insurrection, and the escalating wave of anti-Asian violence throughout the United States.

This panel runs from 9:00 to 10:30 am on the 28th and is free and open to the public, though advance registration is required. It, and other featured sessions, will also be streamed live on Pitt Diversity's YouTube channel.

October's Screenshot Asia gets 2021 Pitt Seed Grant funding.

"Screenshot Asia: Connecting Pittsburgh to 21st Century Film and Media" is one of 20 projects to receive 2021 Pitt Seed Grant Funding, the University of Pittsburgh announced today. Screenshot Asia is an annual Asian film festival that is scheduled for October, after having its first year cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020.

The Screenshot: Asia Film Festival, starting October 2021, brings together students, faculty and community members around our interest in Asia as a rapidly developing and essential part of the 21st century global economy and our region’s shared love for contemporary film and media arts. The weeklong event will showcase films from northern Asia to the Middle East. Our themes, Global Asia (2021) and Inter/Media (2022), give us the flexibility to engage with local ethnic communities, Asian and Asian-American student interests, film lovers and the broader public eager to learn more about Asia while celebrating artistry, diversity and humanity through cinema.

It is scheduled to run October 6 - 10; the film line-up and other details will be announced later.

"Food as Expression" workshop for high school students with Soju founder/owner, July 27 at Mattress Factory.

The Mattress Factory - Museum of Contemporary Art will host Simon Chough, owner and founder of the Garfield Korean restaurant Soju, on July 27 for a "Food as Expression" workshop for teenagers.

Are you a fan of food (I mean who isn’t)? But have you thought about how food can be creative and expressive? Founder and owner of the acclaimed restaurant SOJU Simon Chough will join us for this workshop to share about that creative expression in his own culinary practice, and we will make (and enjoy) some delicious food together!

This event is one of a six-part Teen Summer Workshop Series. "Food as Expression" runs from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Mattress Factory on the Northside (map); it is free but online registration is required.

Yayoi Kusama in situ: A screening of KUSAMA: INFINITY, July 22 at Mattress Factory.

The Mattress Factory - Museum of Contemporary Art will host "Yayoi Kusama in situ: A screening of KUSAMA: INFINITY" on July 22.

This event will celebrate world renown artist Yayoi Kasuma with a screening of the biographical documentary Kusama: Infinity and educator-led tours of Kusama’s permanent installation at the Mattress Factory. Ticket price includes light refreshments, drink ticket, and entry to other exhibits in the main building.

The event runs from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and tickets are available online. The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum that features two permanent exhibitions from Kusama, located at 500 Sampsonia Way on the Northside (map).

Fundraiser continues for Pittsburgh Chinatown marker.

The online fundraising continues for a plaque to mark the site of Pittsburgh's Chinatown, which was granted state historical landmark status earlier this year. The Organization of Chinese Americans has raised $3,402 of the desired $7,000 so far: $5,000 will go toward the plaque itself with $2,000 going toward a celebration planned for the fall.

2020 Japanese animated movie Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song (劇場版「Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel]」III.spring song) in Pittsburgh, July 18 and 20.

TThe 2020 Japanese animated movie Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song (劇場版「Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel]」III.spring song) will play in Pittsburgh July 18 and 20. From the distributor:

The thrilling Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] trilogy comes to its incredible conclusion with the release of the final chapter, Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song, on the big screen!

1998 Hong Sang-soo film The Power of Kangwon Province (강원도의 힘) online via Row House Cinema, through July 17.

Row House Cinema presents the 1998 Hong Sang-soo film The Power of Kangwon Province (강원도의 힘) online through July 17.

Presented in a beautiful restoration and newly translated, Hong Sangsoo’s breakthrough second feature, THE POWER OF KANGWON PROVINCE, is an early masterwork from the prolific filmmaker. Playing with structure, perspective and time – elements that would become hallmarks of his later work – the film follows a young woman, Jisook, who, fresh off her relationship with a married man, joins two girlfriends for a vacation in the mountainous Kangwon region and quickly makes the same mistakes, tumbling into bed with a married policeman. The film then shifts to her ex, Sangwon, who happens to be visiting the same region at the same time, and threatens to cross Jisook’s path.

Rental is $12 with some proceeds benefiting the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville.

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu in Pittsburgh, September 17.

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu will play the Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead on September 17.

In 2019, an NPR story put a spotlight on “a band from Mongolia that blends the screaming guitars of heavy metal and traditional Mongolian guttural singing,” accurately highlighting the cultural importance and unique musical identity of The HU. Founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, The HU, comprised of producer Dashka along with members Gala, Jaya, Temka, and Enkush, are a modern rock group rooted in the tradition of their homeland. The band’s name translates to the Mongolian root word for human being, and their unique approach blends instruments like the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp) and throat singing with contemporary sounds, creating a unique sonic profile that they call “Hunnu Rock.”

Tickets for the 8:00 pm show are available online from $32 (plus fees). The Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead is located at 510 E. 10th Ave. in Munhall (map).

Documentary The Witches of the Orient, on Japanese women's volleyball team in the 50s and 60s, online via Row House Cinema from July 30.

The Row House Cinema will present the 2021 documentary The Witches of the Orient online from July 30.

How does a Japanese women’s volleyball team from the late 1950s become an international sensation, feminist role models, the subject of a wildly popular comic book and a still-influential anime?

This stranger-than-fiction story is dynamically told by Julien Faraut (JOHN McENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION), with an ironic twist on the original demeaning moniker, Oriental Witches. A group of Osaka textile workers are transformed into a fiercely competitive volleyball team by their astonishingly ruthless coach whose unconventional techniques emphasize speed and aggression. A record-setting winning streak and a dramatic 1964 Tokyo Olympics triumph follow. Wonderful archival footage of the women in training and on the court, animated versions of their championship games, and moving interviews with the women today are set to a pulsating electronic score.

It will be available to rent and view online from the 30th, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville.

Japanese guitarist MIYAVI at Thunderbird Cafe, October 22.

Japanese guitarist MIYAVI will play the Thunderbird Cafe on October 22.

Takamasa Ishihara (石原 崇雅), better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actor. He is known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, first as guitarist for the now defunct visual kei rock band Dué le Quartz and then as a solo artist starting in 2002. In 2007, he became a member of the rock supergroup Skin and in 2009 founded his own company, J-Glam. He toured worldwide several times, with over 250 shows in 30 countries as of 2015.

Tickets for the 18+ show are available online from $30 (plus the multitude of fees); doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 8 pm. The Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall is located at 4023 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).