Pepper Space grand opening in Oakland, September 2.

Pepper Space, a new Chinese restaurant in Oakland, will be holding its Grand Opening on Monday, September 2. It is located at 4609 Forbes Ave. (map), in the space near Forbes Ave. and S. Craig St. that was long occupied by Orient Express.

"From Cleveland to Japan: A Replica Returns to the Scene of the Original," September 12 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will host "From Cleveland to Japan: A Replica Returns to the Scene of the Original" on September 12.

Join us on September 12 to explore the world of the Tsuzuri Project, which uses ultra-high-resolution photography in combination with classical painting and craft techniques to create singular objects based on Japanese folding screens in overseas collections.

This presentation focuses on Dragon and Tiger and the Arrival of the Southern Barbarians, two screen compositions in the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the logic behind their selection for the Project.

The talk will be held in the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater and will be followed by refreshments and a networking reception. Registration is free but donations are appreciated. Virtual attendance is also available but those who are able are encouraged to attend in person.

The event runs from 6:30 to 7:30 pm and registration is required. The Carnegie Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by a number of city buses.

2024 Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival (匹兹堡中华文化节将), September 21 in Mellon Park.

The 2024 Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Festival (匹兹堡中华文化节将) will be held September 21 in Mellon Park (map). Presented by the Pittsburgh Chinese Cultural Center, it will run from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm and feature vendor booths, cultural performances, music, food, and more. Details and schedules will be available closer to the festival. The festival grounds at Mellon Park---the southern portion, near the Rose Garden, not the northern portion near the baseball fields and spray park---are in Point Breeze near the intersectiosn of the Shadyside and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods.

Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at Pitt, September 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Cener and Global Hub will host a Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration on September 18 from 1:00 pm.

Join the Asian Studies Center for a celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Global Hub! Snacks and a themed activity will be provided! So, come ready to enjoy yourself and eat good food!

It will be held at the Global Hub, located on the 1st floor of Posvar Hall (map).

2023 Korean film The Tenants (세입자) in Pittsburgh, September 28.

The 2023 Korean film The Tenants (세입자) will play in Pittsburghon September 28 as another addition to the SCREENSHOT: Asia film festival.

In this Kafkaesque reality, a soon-to-be-evicted tenant employs a bizarre subletting scheme that may be his solution.

In a dystopian South Korean city, an office worker endures the tedium of his job in hopes of gaining a transfer to ‘Sphere 2’, where a supposedly better reality awaits. Facing eviction by his adolescent landlord, he decides to complicate the process by renting his toilet out to an eccentric couple, but their strange behaviours soon become unbearable.

It plays in 125 Frick Fine Arts on the University of Pittsburgh campus (map) and ticket information is forthcoming.

2024 documentary The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (五香宮の猫) at Pitt, September 26, as part of the SCREENSHOT: Asia film festival.

A screening of the 2024 documentary The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (五香宮の猫) has been added to the SCREENSHOT: Asia film festival at the University of Pittsburgh on September 26. A synopsis, from director Kazuhiro Soda's official site:

Gokogu is a small, ancient Shinto shrine in Ushimado, Japan, on the Seto Inland Sea. Home to dozens of street cats, it is also known as “Cat Shrine.”

Many people visit the shrine for various reasons: some to worship gods, others to enjoy gardening. Some people come to clean the shrine as volunteers while others just stop by on their way to fish Japanese sardinella –– and it is the perfect place for kids to play after school. In addition, some people visit Gokogu to feed the freely roaming stray cats. Others just come to see these cats or to take pictures of them. It is a heaven for cat-loving residents and visitors, but some residents complain about the waste the cats leave around the neighborhood. Gokogu looks peaceful on the surface, but it is also the epicenter of a sensitive issue that divides the local community.

In 2021, after living in New York City for 27 years, Kazuhiro Soda and Kiyoko Kashiwagi relocated to Ushimado where they had previously filmed Oyster Factory (2015) and Inland Sea (2018). As new settlers, the couple tries to blend into Ushimado’s local community, and gets caught up in the problem around the cats of Gokogu. The filmmakers started rolling their camera to observe and depict the aging, traditional community and its spiritual center Gokogu. The result is a beautiful and cruel, simple yet complex portrayal of the universe of Gokogu, interwoven with people, cats, and all living beings.

It plays in 125 Frick Fine Arts in Oakland, on the edge of the University of Pittsburgh campus, (map) and ticket information is forthcoming.

2024 film Didi (弟弟) stays in Pittsburgh through (at least) September 5.

The 2024 film Didi (弟弟), which opened in Pittsburgh on August 8, will remain here through at least September 5.

In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

It is scheduled to play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, through the 4th, and The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center in Sewickley. Tickets are available online.

"Workshop with SWERY: The Power of Interactive Narrative, Worlds Only Games Can Create" for Pitt students, September 6.

Numerous campus and community groups are collaborating to present "Workshop with SWERY: The Power of Interactive Narrative, Worlds Only Games Can Create" at the University of Pittsburgh on September 6.

Join legendary video game designer Hidetaka 'SWERY' Suehiro in an intimate setting to hone your game design skills! SWERY will deliver a short lecture, followed by an hour of design workshop in small groups. SWERY and [Digital Narrative and Interactive Design] faculty will offer critique, advice and encouragement as you build the foundation of your own interactive narratives!

The event is limited to 50 Pitt students---it is not open to the pubilc---and will be held in 00G8 Cathedral of Learning from 5:00 pm.

2001 Japanese animated film Metropolis (メトロポリス) in Pittsburgh, November 4, 7, and 10.

The 2001 Japanese animated film Metropolis (メトロポリス) will play in Pittsburgh on November 4, 7, and 10 as part of an Anime Expo Cinema Nights series.

Anime Expo Cinema Nights Presents: Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis, where it's man against machine in this film based on the classic manga (comic) by Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese anime and manga. In the late 1940s, long before Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion established Osamu Tezuka as one of the most influential animators of all time, the legendary illustrator created the classic manga Metropolis. Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots, the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society. Detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi search for a rebel scientist, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young girl. But when they locate him, Shunsaku quickly realizes that the eccentric genius is protected by a powerful man and beyond their reach. A retro-futuristic cautionary tale, Metropolis is spectacularly rendered, combining the best in Japanese cel animation with the latest in digital technology.

It it scheduled to play locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark in Robinson. Tickets are available online; please note, some shows are in Japanese with English subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

SCREENSHOT: Asia 2024 Film Festival schedule announced.

The SCREENSHOT: ASIA 2024 Film Festival schedule was announced this afternoon, with films out of Japan, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan helping to comprise the lineup. Selections include:

• A Great Absence (大いなる不在』予告編), Japan - September 29 at Frick Fine Arts (Pitt campus)
• Black Dog (狗阵), China - September 28 at Harris Theater
• Salli (莎莉), Taiwan - September 25 in Lawrence Hall (Pitt campus)
• Sweet Dreams, Indonesia - September 27 at Harris Theater

Tickets and showtime info is now available online. SCREENSHOT: ASIA, which puts on the annual festival along with other Asian programming,

is a joint project from the Film and Media Studies Program and the Asian Studies Center that brings together students, faculty, and community members to create a shared awareness of Asian and Asian American experiences through contemporary film and media. Using film, video, and other on-screen arts, the series provides a forum to learn about Asian art, whether it is a classic work of cinema, a film by an emerging director, or a documentary addressing contemporary social concerns. The programming allows us to reflect on the importance of visual arts, current arts technology, and the place of cultural experiences in a global educational experience.