2022 film Return to Seoul stays in Pittsburgh through April 2.

The 2022 film Return to Seoul, which premiered in Pittsburghon March 23 as part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival and stayed here for another six days, will remain in Pittsburgh through April 2.

On an impulse to reconnect with her origins, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.

It plays at the Harris Theater and AMC Loews Waterfront through the 29th, and at the AMC Loews Waterfront through April 2.

2022 Japanese animated film Suzume (すずめの戸締まり) in Pittsburgh, from April 13.

The 2022 Japanese animated film Suzume (すずめの戸締まり) will play in Pittsburgh from April 13.

On the other side of the door, was time in its entirety— “Suzume” is a coming-of-age story for the 17-year-old protagonist, Suzume, set in various disaster-stricken locations across Japan, where she must close the doors causing devastation. Suzume’s journey begins in a quiet town in Kyushu (located in southwestern Japan) when she encounters a young man who tells her, “I’m looking for a door.” What Suzume finds is a single weathered door standing upright in the midst of ruins as though it was shielded from whatever catastrophe struck. Seemingly drawn by its power, Suzume reaches for the knob… Doors begin to open one after another all across Japan, unleashing destruction upon any who are near. Suzume must close these portals to prevent further disaster.

It is scheduled to play, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the AMC Classic Westmoreland, though more theaters are likely to be announced later. Tickets are available online.

"We Learn" Beginner and Intermediate Korean classes resume at Carnegie Library in Oakland, Saturdays from April 8.

via the Republic of Korea's Flickr page.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Oakland will resume its free "We Learn" Beginner and Intermediate Korean classes Saturdays from April 8. The beginner classes run from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm online; a summary:

In this beginner-level class, we will use the textbook published by the Korean government for foreigners who learn Korean as a secondary language.

We will start from write/reading Korean characters, 'Hangul', and learning how to organize sentence structures.

The intermediate classes start at 12:00 pm, in Classroom A.

In this intermediate-level class, we will cover the textbook published by the Korean government for foreigners who learn Korean as a secondary language. We will cover basic Korean grammar and vocabulary, and practice how to speak and write using what we've covered in each lecture.

Registration is required to participate. The classes run through June 10. The Oakland branch of the Carneige Library of Pittsburgh is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. (map), accessible by numerous city bus lines.

University Gamelan: Gamelan Sunda—The Sound of Celebration, April 1 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will present "University Gamelan: Gamelan Sunda—The Sound of Celebration" on April 1.

The University Gamelan Ensemble, directed by Andrew Weintraub and Jay Arms, plays the gamelan music of the Sundanese people, an ethnic group that inhabits roughly the western third of the island of Java. Gamelan refers to a set of predominantly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bowed lute and voice).

Featuring guest artists Endang Rukandi and Henry Spiller.

FREE and open to the general public

Livestream available on the Music at Pitt YouTube channel

The event will be held from 8:00 pm in the Bellefield Hall Auditorium in Oakland (map).

Work in Progress Series: "Reading at the Crossroads: Literary Landscapes in Okinawa’s Black Pacific” by Nozomi Saito, April 3 at Pitt.

"Kyoto University possesses remains taken from the Momojyana tomb in Okinawa, Japan, where members of the royal family of the Ryukyu Kingdom are believed to be buried." Photo by Dr. Yasukatsu Matushima, in Science

Nozomi Saito, a Ph.D. Candidate in Critical & Cultural Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, will present "Reading at the Crossroads: Literary Landscapes in Okinawa’s Black Pacific” on April 3, part of the Department of English's Work in Progress Series.

Nozomi (Nakaganeku) Saito is a PhD Candidate in Critical & Cultural Studies at Pitt with a concentration in Literature. She is currently completing her dissertation “Aftermaths of Empires: Cold War Narratives in the Black Pacific.” In 2024 she will join the faculty of Amherst College as an Assistant Professor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Literature

The talk runs from 9:30 to 10:30 am in 501 Catheral of Learning.

2000 Taiwanese film Yi Yi (一一) in Pittsburgh, April 15 - 20.

The 2000 Taiwanese film Yi Yi (一一) will play in Pittsburgh April 15 through 20. From the distributor:

The extraordinary, internationally embraced Yi Yi (A One and a Two . . .), directed by the late Taiwanese master Edward Yang, follows a middle-class family in Taipei over the course of one year, beginning with a wedding and ending with a funeral. Whether chronicling middle-age father NJ’s tentative flirtations with an old flame or precocious young son Yang-Yang’s attempts at capturing reality with his beloved camera, the filmmaker deftly imbues every gorgeous frame with a compassionate clarity. Warm, sprawling, and dazzling, this intimate epic is one of the undisputed masterworks of the new century.

It plays at the Row House Cinema and tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Japanese Student Association at Pitt presents Matsuri, March 25.

The Japanese Student Association at Pitt will host its annual Matsuri on March 25. It runs from 5 to 8 pm in the William Pitt Union Lower Lounge and is free and open to the student community, though some booths will require tickets.

CMU's Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture presents Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传), April 1, for this year's Spring Theatre.

Carnegie Mellon University's Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture (CMU ARCC) will Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传) on April 1, this year's installment of its annual Spring Theatre performance.

This year's production, Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传) will present the life story of Zhen Huan and her transition from an innocent talented young adult into a stone-hearted woman, in the Palace of Qing Dynasty. We tell this story through acting interweaved with traditional dance, martial arts, and musical performances.

Tickets are now available online, and the first 50 ticket purchases will also receive free boba. The performance starts at 7:30 pm in the Cohon University Center Rangos Ballroom (map).

2021 Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅) in Pittsburgh, March 25, part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival.

The 2021 Taiwanese film Goddamned Asura (該死的阿修羅) will play in Pittsburgh on March 25, part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival.

Taiwan's official selection for the 95th Academy Awards, Goddamned Asura presents youth, violence, and the consequences of a digital world. Following what is seemingly a senseless act of violence, the film traces the histories of six people and their connection to the event. The film questions our relationship with digital media. Is it a tool of obsessive distraction or an agent of change? What can we expect from a youth generation that views the world as absurd and untenable? Goddamned Asura forays into the social issues that flood our TV screens, a disquieting parallel to the stream of flashing lights that characterize the film.

It starts at 7:30 pm on the CMU campus, in McConomy Auditorium, Jared L. Cohon Center, and includes Q&A sessions and a reception.

Q&A and Discussion with director Lou Yi-An and actress Wang Yu-Xuan

Moderated by Kun Qian, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, University of Pittsburgh

Reception catered by FUKU and Many More Asian Supermarket

Additional Pittsburgh-area theater announced for Return to Seoul, March 24 - 29.

The 2022 film Return to Seoul will play in Pittsburgh for an additional six days, from March 24 through 29, following its March 23 screening as part of this year's Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival. It will play at the Harris Theater in downtown's Cultural District (map), and showtimes were just announced for the AMC Loews Waterfront. A quick synopsis:

Set over an eight-year time span, Return to Seoul follows Freddie’s journey back to her place of birth — a country to which she has never been and of which she does not know the language. Freddie, played by first-time actor Park Ji-Min, has never felt at home or comfortable in any setting, which may be why she ventures back to Seoul. Over the course of the eight years, Seoul, the city, and Freddie, its citizen, evolve with each new encounter. A story driven through change, Return to Seoul invites audiences to look closely at the experience of adoption, integration, and what it means to be “from” somewhere.