2023 Japanese movie Monster (怪物) in Pittsburgh, from December 15.

The 2023 Japanese movie Monster (怪物) will play in Pittsburgh from December 15.

When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what’s going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, in Japanese with English subtitles, and tickets are available online.

2003 Japanese animated film Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) in Pittsburgh, December 11 - 13 as part of "Satoshi Kon Fest."

The 2003 Japanese animated film Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) in Pittsburgh December 11 - 13 as part of AX Cinema Nights' "Satoshi Kon Fest."

Anime Expo Cinema Nights invites you to celebrate TOKYO GODFATHERS, the acclaimed holiday classic from master director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Perfect Blue), as it returns to theaters to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a 4K restoration under the supervision of the original art director and producers. 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 GODFATHERS is a masterpiece by turns heartfelt, hilarious and highly original, a tale of hope and redemption in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark Robinson, and tickets are available online. Please note, the December 11 and 13 screenings are in Japanese with English subtitles while the December 12 shows are dubbed in English.

2022 Chinese documentary Hidden Letters at CMU, December 7.

The Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival will screen the 2022 Chinese documentary Hidden Letters on December 7.

CMUIFF is honored to screen the film Hidden Letters directed by Violet Feng in December. For centuries in China, the once-secret written language of Nüshu was calligraphed on folded fans and handkerchiefs as hidden letters so women could share stories and express solidarity in a repressive era when many women were denied literacy. Confronting patriarchy, two modern women find solace in Nüshu, rediscovering connections between traditional Chinese womanhood and contemporary feminism. On Dec. 7th at 7:30 pm, CMUIFF will screen this film at McConomy Auditorium. After the screening, Violet Feng, the director, will give a Q&A talk on the film and beyond. Chinese Catering will also be provided.

It plays at 7:30 pm in McConomy Auditorium (map) and features a Q&A with director Violet Feng. Tickets are available online.

An Evening With Mai Khôi and the Dissidents, January 10 at Club Cafe.

Opus One Productions presents "An Evening With Mai Khoi and the Dissidents" on January 10. A biography, from her official site:

Mai Khôi is an award-winning singer, composer, and activist. She rose to stardom in 2010 after winning the Vietnam Television Song and Album of the Year awards as one of the first female songwriters in Vietnam. As a pop star, Khôi released seven albums in genres of Vietnamese pop and dance, and made regular nationally televised performances. Several years later she became increasingly uncomfortable having to submit her work to government censors and, thinking she could reform the system from within, nominated herself to run in the National Assembly elections on a pro-democracy platform. Her campaign sparked a nationwide debate about political participation and culminated in a meeting with Barack Obama in May 2016. Her activism came at a high price, however: she had her concerts raided, was evicted from multiple residences, and was detained and interrogated by the police.

. . .

Since 2019, Mai Khôi has lived in exile in the USA. In 2019, she was a resident artist at SHIM:NYC, and in 2020, she was awarded an Artist Protection Fund Fellowship in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh, City of Asylum, and the International Free Expression Project. Mai Khôi was an Exiled Writer and Artist in Residence at City of Asylum in Pittsburgh from 2020-2023; she has continued to reside in Pittsburgh after the conclusion of this residency.

Tickets for the ages 21+ show are available online. Club Cafe is located at 56 S. 12th St. on the South Side (map).

2023 concert film NCT NATION : To the World in Cinemas in Pittsburgh-area theaters, December 6 and 10.

The 2023 concert film from Korean boyband NCT, NCT NATION : To the World in Cinemas, will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters on December 6 and 10.

"NCT NATION : To The World in Cinemas" marks the exciting start of NCT's journey to share their unique music and spectacular performances with the world, reaffirming their position as pioneers in the K-Pop genre. The brand-new concert film encompasses current NCT units - NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV - creating an unparalleled collaborative spectacle in this must-see worldwide theatrical event. Captured from the Munhak Stadium in Incheon, Korea, and celebrating NCT's fourth full album release, 'Golden Age,' it's NCT's inaugural group show and the first film to capture the infinite charm of NCT NATION. Alongside the main concert, enjoy glimpses behind the scenes - it's all right here! Don’t miss this big-screen concert event with NCTzens across the globe!

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

Anime/Kpop Night at Squirrel Hill Sports Bar, December 23.

The Squirrel Hill Sports Bar will host another Anime/Kpop Night on December 23.

A night of your favorite anime, Korean, and Japanese Bops | Free Admission | Toys for Tots Donations Being Accepted | Cosplay Highly Encouraged

IT runs from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am at 5832 Forward Ave. (map).

"Films for the Living: (Re)discovering Juzō Itami's Cinema," November 30 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Film and Media Studies Program will host Dr. Joanne Bernardi and her talk "Films for the Living: (Re)discovering Juzō Itami's Cinema" on November 30.

The writer and film director Juzō Itami (1933-1997) contributed to a complete reconfiguration of the Japanese film industry as a pioneering independent filmmaker while making ten features between 1984 and 1997. Yet, most audiences only know of his internationally acclaimed work (Tampopo, Taxing Woman) before his sensational attack by a yakuza gang member in 1992, though the latter half of his career is arguably even more relevant today. Recuperating his feature films in the broader contexts of Japanese cinema and global cinematic practice, Bernardi provides an opportunity to reconsider Itami's legacy as a key figure emerging from Japan's " Lost Decades."

The talk starts at 5:30 pm in 501 Cathedral of Learning.

Dr. Robin Visser and talks on Questioning Borders: Ecoliterature of China and Taiwan at CMU and Pitt, November 30.

Dr. Robin Visser will be in Pittsburgh speaking on her new book, Questioning Borders: Ecoliterature of China and Taiwan, at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh on November 30. The talk at CMU will run from 12:00 to 1:30 pm in 340 Posner Center (map):

Robin Visser is professor and associate chair of the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She will talk about her new book, Questioning Borders: Ecoliterature of China and Taiwan. Published by Columbia University Press in 2023, the book engages with the intersection of ethnic minorities and environmental studies in modern China from a comparative, interdisciplinary, and global context. The talk will be of interests to a broader spectrum of CMU scholars, such as those who work on environmentalism, ethnicity, postcolonialism, indigeneity, and social injustice.

The title of her Questioning Borderstalk at CMU is “Indigenous Ecological Knowledge in Literature of Inner Mongolia, China.” The following is the abstract of her talk:

Indigenous knowledge of local ecosystems often challenges settler-colonial cosmologies that naturalize resource extraction and the relocation of nomadic, hunting, foraging, or fishing peoples. In this talk, I present findings from my book, Questioning Borders (Columbia UP, 2023), which analyzes relations among humans, animals, ecosystems, and the cosmos in ecoliterature by Han and non-Han Indigenous writers of China and Taiwan. I start by theorizing relationality, indigeneity, and ecological civilization, then present a case study comparing literary works by Mongol and Han writers of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China. I argue that Jiang Rong’s best-selling novel Wolf Totem (狼图腾2004) manifests “Hanspace” imperial cosmologies in contrast to the shamanistic cosmologies in Guo Xuebo’s fiction (Sand Burial 沙葬, 1988; Desert Soul 大漠魂1996; Moŋgoliya 蒙古里亚, 2014), which conveys a post-extinction world governed by what Elizabeth Povinelli (2016) terms “geontopower.”

The talk at the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center begins at 4:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

New movie Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0) in Pittsburgh from November 30.

The latest Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0), will play in Pittsburgh from November 30.

Japan, devastated after the war, faces a new threat in the form of Godzilla. How will the country confront this impossible situation?

It plays locally in Japanese with English subtitles at AMC Loews Waterfront, AMC Classic Mt. Lebanon, AMC Classic Westmoreland, and the Cinemark in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

"In Conversation: Akemi May and Jeannie Kenmotsu" at Carnegie Museum of Art, November 30.

Yoshida Hiroshi, Evening in Pittsburgh, 1928

The Carnegie Museum of Art will host "In Conversation: Akemi May and Jeannie Kenmotsu" on November 30.

Akemi May, associate curator, works on paper at Carnegie Museum of Art, and Jeannie Kenmotsu, PhD, Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art at the Portland Art Museum, discuss the international reception of Japanese prints focusing on the works in our current exhibition, Imprinting in Their Time: Japanese Printmakers, 1912–2022.