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.

Chengdu Gourmet to open North Hills location, moving into old Oriental Market spot.

by Laura Petrila for Pittsburgh Magazine.

Chengdu Gourmet will be opening a North Hills location next year, taking over the old Oriental Market storefront, writes Hal B. Klein in Pittsburgh Magazine.

Wei Zhu recently signed a lease to open a second location of his much-lauded Chengdu Gourmet restaurant. The 6000-square-foot restaurant will be located in the former Oriental Market space on McKnight Road in Ross Township.

It’ll mark a return to the North Hills for Zhu, who worked as a chef/partner at the now-closed China Star in McCandless about a decade ago. Zhu says that he felt there aren’t many outstanding Chinese food options for diners in that part of town (Ting’s Kitchen, which now operates in the former China Star location, is a good choice). So he jumped at the opportunity to expand north.

He’s keeping the Squirrel Hill style location open and will bring in another chef from China to help him run the new kitchen; Zhu will split time between the two locations. “It won’t be a challenge to run two places. I’m bringing a top chef from China, and I’ll be able to train him further here, too,” Zhu says, via a translator.

Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill is routinely named among the best restaurants in the city. The new McKnight Road location will be in the spot formerly occupied by Oriental Market, a Chinese grocery that moved further up McKnight Road in March.

Food delivery service Hungry Panda hiring Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for Pittsburgh area.

Hungry Panda is hiring a Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for the Pittsburgh area. As PennsylvAsia noted last summer, more Chinese delivery options, like Fantuan and Chowbus, are making their way to Pittsburgh.

"American Interventionism and its Role in Southeast Asian Deportation," July 28 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh will present "American Interventionism and its Role in Southeast Asian Deportation" as part of its 2021 Diversity Forum on July 28.

When discussing the rise of hate toward East and Southeast Asian Americans, the state sanctioned violence towards these communities -namely Southeast Asians -is often overlooked. These attacks are not individual, but rather institutional, and date back to American interventionism beginning in the former half of the 20th century. Since President Biden’s inauguration 2,886 immigrants have been deported, despite a campaign promise of a 100-day deportation moratorium. These deportations have affected not only the Asian American community, but also the Black and LatinxAmerican communities. In this workshop, we will discuss the theories driving American foreign policy during the 20th century and the effects of American interventionism on Southeast Asian countries to provide a framework for our primary focus on modern state violence towards Southeast Asian Americans in the form of deportations. This workshop aims to educate participants about how this American intervention has led to current refugee populations and the Southeast Asian diaspora, causing the immigration and deportation issues today, as we cannot act before we are informed. We hope this event will build coalitions between the Asian American community and other marginalized populations in order to engage in collective action against systemic oppression. At the end of the event, we will also provide a tool kit to participants with ways to help families affected by deportation and action items to stop this state.

It runs from 10:45 am to 12:00 pm and is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

"Pittsburgh KPOP Party 2021" with 412 Ktown, August 27.

412 Ktown (Kpop Pittsburgh) will present "Pittsburgh KPOP Party 2021" on August 27 at Level Up Studios.

!!ITS FINALLY HERE!!!
We are finally up and running with our
kpop events once again after a long wait^^
come join us and dance the night away to your favorite KPOP songs
Music will be provided by DJ.Kidplay (Kpop dj on tiktok )
BTS , NCT , Way V , Exo , Black Pink , Aespa , Everglow and more..
To Enter the Event We recommend everyone to wear masks ( its optional to your personal preference)
THIS IS 18+ EVENT
****$15 @ the door (Cash Prefer) if not we have venmo & paypal **** and there is parking lot next to the dance studio plus plenty of street parking
For More info : Contact us on Facebook (412 Ktown) or email us (412ktownpgh@gmail.com)
Also , We will have our group wristbands for sale at the event ($5)
Hope to see you guys there ^^

It runs from 8:30 pm on the 27th through 12:30 am. Level Up Studios is located at 4836 Penn Ave. in Garfield (map).

"Advocating for the Asian and Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities at Pitt," July 29.

From a March 2021 Stop Asian Hate rally in Oakland (via Pittsburgh City-Paper)

The University of Pittsburgh will present a conversation on "Advocating for the Asian and Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities at Pitt" on July 29, part of the 2021 Diversity Forum.

This workshop is intended to help advocates at the University of Pittsburgh understand the specific issues facing the AAPI and Asian communities in Pittsburgh and the country. It consists of a presentation followed by discussion and then a question/answer session. The primary speaker is Sunny Yang (Attorney, an officer and former board member of Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania and a member and former Chair of the Asian Attorneys Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association), who will be joined by Seung-Hwan Shin (Lecturer in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures) and Paris Yamamoto (Pitt undergraduate and former president of the campus Japanese Students Association).

Simon Tam among featured speakers at "Spitting Fire: An Evening with Friends," July 27 (online) at Pitt.

Simon Tam is among the featured speakers at "Spitting Fire: An Evening with Friends" on July 27, part of the online 2021 Diversity Forum at the University of Pittsburgh.

Join your fellow Forum attendees and a lineup of artists from Pittsburgh and beyond for a celebration of creativity as a source of joy, resistance, and community. The evening kicks off with remarks by Simon Tam of The Slants and includes performances by musicians INEZ and Brittney Chantele, poets Dawn Lundy Martin and Jubi Arriola-Headley, multidisciplinary artist Bria Walker, and writer Hannah Eko. Creativity is for everyone, so the evening will also feature an open mic session where you can share your creative spark through spoken word, music, or performance.

. . .

Simon Tam is best known as the founder and bassist of The Slants, the world’s first and only all-Asian American dance rock band. He helped expand civil liberties for minorities by winning a unanimous victory at the Supreme Court of the United States for a landmark case, Matal v. Tam, in 2017. He also leads The Slants Foundation, a nonprofit that supports arts and activism projects for underrepresented communities.

The event starts at 7:00 pm; it's free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Tickets now available for Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro in Pittsburgh-area theaters, October through December.

Four Japanese animated films will be back in Pittsburgh-area theaters from October through December as part of GHIBLI Fest 2021, an annual showcase of Studio Ghibli movies. 

• Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) - October 3 and 6 (dubbed in English), October 4 (English subtitles) 
• Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) - October 24 and 28 (dubbed), October 25 (subtitles)
• Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ) - November 14 and 18 (dubbed), November 15 (subtitled)
• My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) - December 5 and 9 (dubbed), December 8 (subtitled)

The movies will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson.

Chengdu Gourmet offers 10% discount when ordering takeout or delivery through its website.

Chengdu Gourmet (老四川), routinely ranked among the best restaurants in Pittsburgh, has recently begun offering a 10% discount to those who order takeout or delivery through its new website, chengdupa15217.com. It's a way to address the numerous third-party websites not vetted by restaurants that offer online ordering options while charging hefty fees and lacking customer service or quality control.

Chengdu Gourmet opened in 2014 and is located at 5840 Forward Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map).

2019 Makoto Shinkai film Weathering With You (天気の子) in Pittsburgh, July 25 and 27.

The 2019 Makoto Shinkai film Weathering With You (天気の子) will play in Pittsburgh on July 25 and 27. From the distributor:

GKIDS and Fathom Events proudly bring back the critically acclaimed film from director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura, the creative team behind the critically-acclaimed, global smash hit Your Name.

The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemarks in McCandless, Monroeville, and Robinson. Tickets are available online; the screening on the 25th is dubbed in English and the screening on the 27th is in Japanese with English subtitles.