Shortcomings, Randall Park's directorial debut, remains in Pittsburgh-area theaters through August 16.

Shortcomings, the directorial debut from Randall Park which opened in Pittsburgh last week, will remain here through (at least) August 16. A synopsis, from the distributor:

Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

2023 Chinese comedy One and Only (热烈) in Pittsburgh, from August 11.

The 2023 Chinese comedy One and Only (热烈) will play in Pittsburgh from August 11.

Chen Shuo, who has been performing “commercial street dance” for a living, meets his best coach, Ding Lei, and joins the street dance club Exclamation Point. The dancers in the club are all different, so they have different sparks and laughs with Chen Shuo. While Chen Shuo is integrating into the group, Exclamation Point is facing disbandment and Chen Shuo receives heavy blows one after another. The love for dance and the precious emotions of sympathy between teammates support Chen Shuo and Ding Lei to go through the slump and revive. In the end, Chen Shuo and Ding Lei win the highest glory of their own.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

1997 Japanese animated film Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー) in Pittsburgh, September 6, 7, and 10.

The 1997 Satoshi Kon film Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters from September 6, part of a nationawide presentation by AX Cinema Nights to mark the movie's 25th anniversar and a "Satoshi Kon Fest" that will bring additional Kon films here in the fall and spring.

Anime Expo Cinema Nights invites you to revisit PERFECT BLUE, the groundbreaking and rarely screened first film from the legendary director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Paranoia Agent), as it returns to theatres for its 25th anniversary. Rising pop star Mima has quit singing to pursue a career as an actress and model, but her fans aren't ready to see her go... Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia. As her stalker closes in, in person and online, the threat he poses is more real than even Mima knows, in this iconic psychological thriller that has frequently been hailed as one of the most important animated films of all time.

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theater in Robinson, and tickets are available online. The screenings on September 6 and 10 are in Japanese with English subtitles, while the screenings on September 7 are dubbed in English.

Yanlai Dance Academy presents KPOP Random Play Dance PGH, August 16 at Station Square.

Yanlai Dance Academy will present KPOP Random Play Dance PGH on August 16 at Station Square.

Calling all Kpop fans! 
We welcome you to join us for Pittsburgh's 2nd Kpop Random Play Dance co-hosted with Level Up Studios! Please join us or come and watch.

12-1 PM
Join us for a free dance workshop taught by Lucy of Yanlai Dance Academy and Ki of Level Up Studio

1-2:30 PM
KPOP Random Play Dance

Free and open to everyone.

Rules for playing:
1. When not dancing please wait at the sides of the dancing area.
2. When the music comes on for a kpop song that you know the dance to, jump out into the middle and show off your moves!
3. If you don't know the dance, cheer on others who do!
4. Don't forget to have fun and and be respectful of those in the kpop community here in Pittsburgh!

It runs from 12:00 to 2:30 at Station Square (map) and is free and open to the public.  Yanlai Dance Academy is located in the North Hills and routinely has Kpop and Chinese dance classes, among a wide variety of other offerings.

Little Viet Kitchen coming soon to McCandless.

photo submitted by reader.

 
A reader shares news of Little Viet Kitchen Vietnamese Eatery, offering "Quick Service Vietnamese Food," coming soon to Pine Creek Shopping Center in McCandless (map). Little Viet Kitchen will be the first Vietnamese restaurant to open in the North Hills.

[Review] Community groups bring Sight, autobiographical film about Dr. Ming Wang, to Pittsburgh for two days of advance screenings, August 5 and 6.

[Note: Organizers asked me to write a review of the movie Sight ahead of the public screenings on August 5 and 6, and I happily obliged. I will attempt a fuller write-up ahead of its wider theatrical release in October.]

"The present is made possible by the past" is a common refrain among characters in Sight, a new movie based on the life (and the 2016 autobiography) of pioneering laser eye surgeon Dr. Ming Wang. It's the ghosts of this past, particularly past traumas from the Cultural Revolution, that push Wang's efforts to help the blind see in Sight, both literally and figuratively.

Sight is based on the true story of eye surgeon Dr. Ming Wang, and his autobiography From Darkness to Sight: A Journey from Hardship to Healing. Starring Terry Chen (Almost Famous, Falling) as Dr. Wang and Greg Kinnear as godfather and mentor Misha Bartnovsky, it traces his life from poverty in Hangzhou through superlative success on the college entrance exam to late-night study sessions at MIT to his reputation as a "miracle worker."  It was filmed in 2021 and spent nearly two years in distribution limbo before this summer’s barnstorming promotional tour. Sight will have three free advance screenings in Pittsburgh on August 5 and 6 before returning to theatres nationwide from October 27.

Kangdaniel: My Parade in Pittsburgh, August 30 and September 2.

The new concert documentary film Kangdaniel: My Parade will play in Pittsburgh on August 30 and September 2.

Following his explosive career as a member of one of Korea’s hottest K-pop groups, KANGDANIEL has chosen to walk down a path all his own. While he faced obstacles due to circumstances outside of his control in the early days of his solo career, it was during this time that KANGDANIEL explored and discovered his true colors as an artist. With the release of his first studio album, KANGDANIEL stands before fans once again with “FIRST PARADE,” his first solo concert in Seoul that also marks the start of an epic world tour. This concert documentary film chronicles Daniel’s time in the rehearsal room, his stripped back and natural self with the people closest to him, and a glimpse into his mindset and resolve through heartfelt interviews. As we cheer for KANGDANIEL on his path of transforming his dreams into reality, we soon find ourselves cheering for our own journeys as well. Here’s to KANGDANIEL, here’s to MY PARADE.

It is scheduled to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online.

University of Pittsburgh library orientations in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, September 5 and 6.

The University of Pittsburgh Library System will hold orientation sessions for international students and visiting scholars in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The Chinese and Japanese sessions will be held on September 5, and the Korean session on September 6. Registration is required and can be completed online.

Would you like to know...

A librarian who speaks your native language?
The difference between academic libraries in the U.S. and libraries in your home country?
The many wonderful services that the library offers to help your area of study and research at Pitt?
If so, please attend our library orientation sessions.

WILDNESS: JADED BLOCK PARTY with Rivers of Steel, August 12, presents film screening of Last Mayor of Chinatown, cookie decorating, performances, and more.

JADED, Pittsburgh’s first Asian American & Pacific Island (AAPI) artist collective, will present WILDNESS: JADED BLOCK PARTY with Rivers of Steel on August 12 at the Waterfront.

JADED presents WILDNESS, a daylong festival at the historic Pump House featuring a film screening of The Last Mayor of Chinatown, performances, live music, and AAPI vendors sharing art, food, & services. Come out and celebrate women and queer AAPI folks through events and workshops, uplifting the work of local filmmakers, writers, artists, and activists.

Events:

3-4pm Opening Remarks & Screening of “The Last Mayor of Chinatown” (plus discussion with Director Lena Chen & Shirley Yee)

4-6:30pm DJ Samira Mendoza, Food/Art Vendors, & Workshops

6:30-8pm Performances

Steel Dragon Martial Arts

Anisha Baid

Davine Byon

Bonnie Fan

Mango

Sara Tang

Workshops:

4pm Cookie Decorating with Jasmine Cho (until supplies last)

4:30 Asian Calligraphy: A Touch of the Art with Eva Hui

Vendors:

ManduHandu, Yhet Pinoy Cuisine, Greenhouse Co-Op and so much more

Raffle Prizes:

A gift card from Bahn Mi and Ti

Prototype PGH Membership

A session with First Light Reiki

and much more!

The event runs from 3 to 8 pm at the Rivers of Steel: Pump House & Water Tower (map).  Donations are encouraged online.  

Mongolian folk-fusion band Tuvergen in Pittsburgh, September 21.

Tuvergen, a Chicago-based trio performing Mongolian folk-fusion, will perform in Pittsburgh on September 21.

An emerging act at world music festivals across the U.S., Tuvergen Band (“galloping” in Mongolian) is a Chicago-based folk-fusion trio founded by Tamir Hargana (lead vocals, folk lutes, morin khuur), Naizal Hargana (morin khuur, vocals), and Brent Roman (percussion, didgeridoo, vocals) in 2020. Hailing from Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, Tamir and Naizal bring some of the country’s most distinctive sounds to Tuvergen Band, including the cello-like horsehead fiddle (morin khuur), various folk lutes (the Tuvan doshpuluur and West Mongolian tovshuur), and khoomii throat singing. An ethnomusicologist and Asian percussion specialist, Roman augments these sounds with a custom hybrid drum kit of twenty global percussion instruments and didgeridoo. The trio use this rich instrumental palette to perform what they call “modern nomadic music,” incorporating bluegrass, blues, rock, and more into its repertoire of Mongolian and Tuvan folk songs and originals.

Tuvergen will perform at the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh in Shadyside (map) from 7:30 to 9:30 pm.