Special lecture and reception. Light refreshments will be served!

The final film in the Pittsburgh Film Series is Summer Wars (2009), directed by Mamoru Hosoda. Although math whiz Kenji Koiso is a social zero, his avatar flourishes in the online space of Oz -- until he accepts an e-mail request to solve a thorny equation, creating a conduit between the real and virtual worlds that may destroy both.

All films are free and open to the public! Screened in Japanese with English subtitles. More info, including maps and film trailers, at www.tinyurl.com/animepgh

The Pittsburgh Anime Film Series continues with Memories (1995), directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. Memories is made up of three separate science-fiction stories. In the first, "Magnetic Rose," four space travelers are drawn into an abandoned spaceship that contains a world created by one woman's memories. In "Stink Bomb," a young lab assistant accidentally transforms himself into a human biological weapon set on a direct course for Tokyo. The final episode, "Cannon Fodder," depicts a day in the life of a city whose entire purpose is the firing of cannons at an unseen enemy.

Returning to Pittsburgh is the "Pittsburgh Anime Film Series," this year featuring theatrical films from Japan. The series kicks off with 5 Centimeters Per Second, directed by Makoto Shinkai (2007). Told in three interconnected segments, we follow a young man named Takaki through his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.