Pittsburgh is excited to be part of the launch of the latest volume of Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan. Now in its seventh year, Monkey Business specializes in high-quality translations from Japanese into English and always includes a few contributions from American writers. The journal’s founder is Motoyuki Shibata, a Tokyo University professor and prolific author and translator in his own right; he is arguably the best-known translator in Japan of American literature (Paul Auster, Kelly Link, Thomas Pynchon and others).

This film is not for the squeamish but definitely for those who love fast-paced and edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Initially starting as a funny story about two odd men trying to woo the same waitress, a darker tone presents itself. Funny, dark, disturbing, and creepy this Japanese crime thriller is full of twists and turns.

Directed by Harune Massey, Whirlpool is a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Set against a city ravaged and torn apart by ethnic brutality, Shahbaz and Parveen struggle to break away from the unending violence. This gritty, fast-paced thriller is a modern reimagination of the Shakespearean classic.

Edward Yang’s second feature is a classic film about the city of Taipei caught between the past and the present. A young woman and her boyfriend struggle to adjust to the modernity Taiwan is propelling toward. The women embraces the future and tries to move on from her past, but her boyfriend sticks to traditionalism.

In 1995, at the age of twenty-three, Michael Meyer joined the Peace Corps and, after rejecting offers to go to seven other countries, was sent to a tiny town in Sichuan. Knowing nothing about China, or even how to use chopsticks, Meyer wrote Chinese words up and down his arms so he could hold conversations, and, per a Communist dean’s orders, jumped into teaching his students about the Enlightenment, the stock market, and Beatles lyrics. Soon he realized his Chinese counterparts were just as bewildered by the country’s changes as he was.

Roundtable, facilitated by Nancy Condee, Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Post-screening discussion with Sunnie Rucker-Chang, Assistant Professor of Slavic, Director of European Studies, University of Cincinnati, Ohio

Post-screening discussion with director, Zhanna Issabayeva

Our Everyday Life (Bosnian: Naša svakodnevna priča) is a 2015 Bosnian drama about family Susic who lives everyday Bosnian story. Their life begins to fall apart because of father's dissatisfaction after his company is sold on the stock exchange, Sasa's negligent attitude towards work and family, Marija's breast cancer diagnose.

Post-screening discussion with the director, Ines Tanovic.

Post-screening discussion with Ingeborg Bratoeva-Daraktchieva, Film Critic, Bulgaria