Artist Talks: Elina Zhang, Brent Nakamoto, December 14 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh Department of Studio Arts will host Elina Zhang and Brent Nakamoto as part of its Artist Talks series on December 14. It starts at 6:00 pm in B42 of the Frick Fine Arts building (map).

Concert film Seventeen Tour 'Follow' to Japan: Live Viewing in Pittsburgh, December 16.

The concert film featuring Korean group Seventeen, Seventeen Tour 'Follow' to Japan: Live Viewing, will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters on December 16.

Broadcast live from Japan’s Fukuoka PayPay Dome, SEVENTEEN TOUR ‘FOLLOW’ TO JAPAN: LIVE VIEWING comes to cinemas across the globe. The group have significantly grown in popularity since our 2022 release POWER OF LOVE THE MOVIE, selling 10 million albums worldwide this year alone. Preorders for SEVENTEEN's album "Seventeenth Heaven" surpassed 4.67 million copies worldwide, a record for the boy band. The K-pop icons will showcase their versatility with special unit performances by the Vocal Unit, Performance Unit, and Hip-hop Unit, each bringing their unique sound and charisma to the stage. The release comes with full band support across all relevant channels, including project-specific shout-outs inviting fans to attend the live event.

It is scheduled to play, so far, at the Cinemark theaters in Robinson and Monaca. Tickets for the 5:00 pm show are available online.

2023 Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) throughout Pittsburgh, from December 7.

The 2023 Hayao Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) plays across Pittsburgh-area theaters from December 7. A synopsis of the movie, from the distributor:

Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and the Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award®-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki's long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film "Spinning Globe" was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.

. . .

A young boy named Mahito
yearning for his mother
ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.
There, death comes to an end,
and life finds a new beginning.


A semi-autobiographical fantasy
about life, death, and creation,
 in tribute to friendship,
from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

Tickets are available online for shows at nearly all Pittsburgh-area theaters, including: the AMC Loews Waterfront; the AMC Classic Mt. Lebanon; the AMC Classic South Hills; Waterworks Cinema; the Squirrel Hill Manor Theater; the Chartiers Valley Luxury 14; and Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Robinson. Tickets are also available for the screenings at the Row House Hollywood. Please note, some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0) to remain in Pittsburgh through (at least) December 14.

The latest Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0), which opened in Pittsburgh on November 30, will remain in local theaters through at least December 14.

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.

2009 Gurren Lagann movies in Pittsburgh, January 16-17 and 23-24.

Two Japanese animated movies, Gurren Lagann the Movie: Childhood's End (劇場版 天元突破グレンラガン 紅蓮篇) and Gurren Lagann The Movie: The Lights in the Sky are Stars (劇場版 天元突破グレンラガン 螺巌篇) will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters in January. A synopsis of Childhood's End, playing January 16 and 17, from the distributor:

In the distant future, Simon, a shy boy, and Kamina, a man who dreams of another life up on the surface live a quiet and restless life deep underground in Giha Village. One day, their destinies are forever changed when a gigantic “Gunmen” along with a beautiful girl named Yoko come falling through their village ceiling! Kamina, Simon, and Yoko break through to the surface riding the mysterious “Lagann” but the surface is nothing like Kamina imagined. Now, Kamina and Simon along with their comrades must challenge the evil Spiral King with the Gurren Lagann to bring hope to this desperate world

And The Lights in the Sky are Stars, playing here on January 23 and 24:

Seven Years have passed since the battle of Teepelin…

Humans have successfully rebuilt civilization under Simon’s leadership and enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity. However, humanity’s increasing population triggers the emergence of a powerful enemy. This fearsome Anti-Spiral proves too overwhelming for humanity to fight back. In these desperate times, the members of Team Dai-Gurren reunite to fight once again. In this high-stakes battle, can Simon and his team pierce the heavens with the Gurren Lagann to save mankind one last time?

The movis are scheduled to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemarks in McCandless, Monaca, Monroeville, and Robinson, and tickets for the first weekend and the second are available onilne.

Three days of Hidden Letters at CMU: World-renowned directors Violet Du Feng and Qing Zhao explore sisterhood through a secret language in China

The Carnegie Mellon University's International Film Festival will present the 2022 documentary Hidden Letters on December 7, along with two additional days of programming. The festival shares its recent press release:

The Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival announced that the film “Hidden Letters” will be featured on Dec. 7 at the McConomy Auditorium. It marks the combined efforts of directors Violet Du Feng and Qing Zhao and Academy Award nominated producer Su Kim (“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”), as well as Emmy-nominated producers Jean Tsien (“76 Days”) and Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas (“Nowhere to Hide”). Taking viewers on a journey from the past to present, “Hidden Letters” follows two millennial Chinese women who are connected by their interest with the secret language of sisterhood and their wish to protect it. Historically, In China, women were forced into oppressive marriages where they were prohibited from reading or writing. To cope, they developed and shared a secret language among themselves called Nüshu, which was written in poems on paper-folded fans and handkerchiefs. These hidden letters connected generations of Chinese women. Fascinated by Nüshu’s legacy of female solidarity, the two women struggle to navigate their own journeys in a patriarchal society. 

1994 Hong Kong film Chung King Express (重慶森林) at Row House Lawrenceville, from December 26.

The 1994 Hong Kong film Chung King Express (重慶森林) will play at the Row House Lawrenceville from December 26 through January 4.

Kar-wai’s break out film employs his signature crossing storylines to follow two police officers who fall into ill-fated love in a film brimming with raw humanity and irresistible energy.

Tickets are available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

"Leaving and Loving the Walled Village: Hakka Women Writing towards Mobility and Freedom," December 7 at Pitt.

Hakka village, by madgrin. 

The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center will present "Leaving and Loving the Walled Village: Hakka Women Writing towards Mobility and Freedom" on December 7.

Hosted by the Humanities Center and faculty fellow, Xiqiao Wang. Respondents include Molly Warsh (History) & Dr. Rebecca Lorimer Leonard (English, UMass Amherst). This event will be hybrid, so you can attend it either in person in 602 CL or via Zoom as you prefer.

This project builds on research efforts to explore left-behind women’s lived experiences with migration in three economically under-developed provinces (Hainan, Anhui, Guizhou) in China. Drawing from ethnographic data (semi-structured interview, participant-observation, literacy artifacts) and using mobile methods (Finlay & Bowman, 2017), I construct thick description of young women’s lived experiences with migration and literacy and explore participants’ experiential and affective relationship with knowledge of changing urban and rural places in situ.

For this colloquium, I examine how young women from the Hakka ethnic group, a historically migratory ethnic configuration, work with and against narratives, cultural rituals, literary and artistic forms, and aesthetic sensitivities historically evolving through migration. I pursue these questions: How are left-behind Hakka women’s social, geographic, and literacy mobility entangled in historical imaginary of prosperity and patterns of forced/voluntary migration? How do Hakka women mobilize such imaginaries along with their multilingual repertoires to perform and disrupt gender and national identities? I hope to share my emerging efforts to map situated accounts onto broader migration trajectories surfacing through triangulated reading of observational notes, digital photos, and GIS data.

It runs from 12:30 to 2:00 pm in 602 Cathedral of Learning and online.

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.