2023 Celine Song film Past Lives returns to Pittsburgh, from January 26.

The 2023 Celine Song film Past Lives will play in Pittsburgh from January 26 through January 31. From the distributor:

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

The movie opened here in June 2023 and had multiple runs throughout the last half of the year, and it is scheduled to play at the Row House Lawrenceville in February. Past Lives plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, and tickets are available online.

Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか) remains in Pittsburgh-area theaters through (at least) January 31.

The 2023 Hayao Miyazaki film The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか), which opened across Pittsburgh-area theaters on December 7, will remain here through (at least) January 31. 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 the the AMC Loews Waterfront. Please note, some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

Atomic Cinema: GODZILLA (1954) with Alternate Histories, January 23 at Bottlerocket Social Hall.

Bottlerocket Social Hall and Alternate Histories will present Atomic Cinema: GODZILLA (1954) on January 23.

ATOMIC CINEMA brings a screening of the original GODZILLA to Bottlerocket! A free night with games and drinks hosted by ALTERNATE HISTORIES and Pittsburgh's own YINZILLA!

The event starts at 7:30 pm and is free, but online registration is required. Bottlerocket Social Hall is located at 1226 Arlington Ave. in Allentown (map).

Ecology, Society, and Imagination in Oyamada Hiroki's The Factory and the Hole, February 7 14 at Pitt.

University of Pittsburgh Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures Master's student Hayley Gerlach will present Ecology, Society, and Imagination in Oyamada Hiroki's The Factory and the Hole on February 7 14 (the talk has been rescheduled).

Two of Oyamada Hiroko's best-known works are her proletariat debut novella The Factory and her Akutagawa-prize winning novella The Hole. Scholars are only beginning ot shift their focus to Oyamada, and as of yet, litte scholarsly work has been dedicated to analyzing the animals that are characteristic of her writing. In my thesis, I examine the liminal space between human and nonhuman wolrds in Oyamada's speculative fiction and what these spaces say about societal and environmental responsibility. First, I examine The Factory from an ecocritical perspective. I discuss how Oyamada's factory functions as a capitalsist 'ecosystem,' and how the animals on its periphery contribute to and disrupt this ecosystem. I argue that the animals illuminate the human and nonhuman costs of capitalism, while also offering opportunities for resistance. Next, I discuss animals in The Hole. Reminiscent of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the protagonist falls into a hole before encountering a cast of strange characters that lead her to question her own existence. I argue that the wild animals and insects in the rural ecosystem present a fluid and chaotic form of existence that offer an alternative to Asahi's static domestic life and the rigid expectations of womanhood.

The talk runs from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in 1219 Cathedral of Learning.

Black-and-white version Godzilla Minus One Minus Color in Pittsburgh, from January 25.

Godzilla Minus One Minus Color, the black-and-white version of the latest Godzilla film Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0), will play in Pittsburgh-area theaters for one week starting January 25. The official Godzilla site writes:

"Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is not just a simple black and white version," [Director, Screenwriter, and Visual Effects Supervisor Takahashi] Yamazki said, "The colorist took the care and the time to go through a careful and very complex process. The black-and-white images make Godzilla look very realistic and documentary-like, which leads to even more fear. Even we have seen Godzilla many times, but we felt that something completely different appeared there. It is very scary. So this is not only for those who liked Godzilla Minus One but also those who are seeing it for the first time. They should definitely see this black-and-white version. Especially the scene at the beginning where Godzilla appears in the night - it is so terrifying that it made my knees shake!"

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, AMC CLassic South Hills, AMC Westmoreland in Greensburg, AMC Classic South Pike in Sarver, and the Cinemark in Robinson. Tickets are available online.

Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0) to remain in Pittsburgh-area theaters through (at least) January 24.

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 January 24.

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 the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

Identity, Inclusion, and Information: THE AANHPI Experience Conference, January 30 and 31 at the University of Pittsburgh.

PittBusiness and the University of Pittsburgh's Screenshot Asian Film Festival will present Identity, Inclusion, and Information: THE AANHPI Experience Conference on January 30 and 31, featuring lectures, a performance by Mai Khoi, and a documentary screening of Out of State. 

• January 30, 4:00 pm - Keynote by Yun-Oh Whang
• January 30, 5:00 pm - "The Importance of Cultivating Belonging for the AAPI Community in Higher Education" panel
• January 30, 6:30 pm - "Bad Activist" performance by Mai Khôi
• January 31, 6:30 pm - Out of State documentary screening

The events are free and open to the public.

"We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes resume at Carnegie Library in Oakland, Saturdays from January 20.

via the Republic of Korea's Flickr page.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Oakland will resume its free "We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes Saturdays from January 20. 

Pitt Lunar New Year Celebration, February 9.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese Program and Chinese Language and Culture Club will host a Lunar Year Year Celebration on February 9.

Come join the Pitt Chinese Program and the Chinese Language and Culture Club to celebrate the Spring Festival with calligraphy (Spring couplets), games, papercutting, snacks, milk tea, and prizes.

The event runs from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in the Kurtzmann Room of the William Pitt Union, and is open to the public.

API Month Conversation with Professor Xiang - "Last Night at the Telegraph Club", January 24 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's University Library System will present API Month Conversation with Professor Xiang - "Last Night at the Telegraph Club" on January 24.

Join the University Library System for a conversation with Professor Lidong Xiang from the English Department to talk about "Last Night at the Telegraph Club" as part of API month at Pitt. The book received National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2021, but is currently banned from the K-12 schools and libraries in many states. 

The novel tells the story of Lily Hu, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, as she explores her sexuality and the struggles and threats her family faces in 1950's San Francisco during the Red Scare and the McCarthyism investigations. 

Professor Xiang is assistant professor at the English Department in the University of Pittsburgh. She received the Doctoral Degree in Childhood Studies from Rutgers University; and is committed to critically engaging with social justice issues regarding girls and other marginalized children and youth.

It runs from 12:30 to 1:15 pm in the 1st Floor Cafe of Hillman Library (map), and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended and can be completed online.