2025 Japanese Film Festival
The Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival is one of the most prominent Asian film festivals in the Rust Belt — featuring new and classic films coming out of Japan’s innovative and prolific film industry.
The 2025 festival will put a special focus on the Samurai genre through film selections and special events. Stay tuned for film selections and event announcements!
Ghost Cat Anzu
- Fri, Mar 14
- Sat, Mar 15
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Fri, Mar 14 @ 6:30 pm: openingFri, Mar 14 @ 9:15 pm: opening
Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita, Yoko Kuno Run Time: 97 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Keiichi Suzuki, Mirai Moriyama, Miwako Ichikawa, Munetaka Aoki, Noa Goto
We are kicking off The 2025 Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival with a wildly fun new anime film from...
Ghost Killer
- Sat, Mar 15
- Sun, Mar 16
- Mon, Mar 17
- Tue, Mar 18
- Wed, Mar 19
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Kensuke Sonomura Run Time: 113 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akari Takaishi, Mario Kuroba, Masanori Mimoto
In its Pittsburgh premiere, this new action packed thriller follows college student Fumika Matsuoka, who agrees to help...
Yojimbo
- Sat, Mar 15
- Sun, Mar 16
- Tue, Mar 18
- Wed, Mar 19
- Thu, Mar 20
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Akira Kurosawa Run Time: 110 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1961 Language: Japanese
Starring: Daisuke Kato, Isuzu Yamada, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshirô Mifune, Yôko Tsukasa
In Akira Kurosawa’s classic film, a nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in...
Baby Assassins: Nice Days
- Sat, Mar 15
- Sun, Mar 16
- Mon, Mar 17
- Tue, Mar 18
- Wed, Mar 19
- Thu, Mar 20
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Yugo Sakamoto Run Time: 103 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akari Takaishi, Atsuko Maeda, Mondo Otani, Saori Izawa, Sosuke Ikematsu
As long as they keep making the wild, fun, and cheeky Baby Assassins franchise… we’re going to keep...
Versus
- Sat, Mar 15
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura Run Time: 119 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2000 Language: Japanese
Starring: Chieko Misaka, Hideo Sakaki, Kenji Matsuda, Minoru Matsumoto, Tak Sakaguchi
March 15 only! A group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman, and an escaped convict have met, in...
Samurai Marathon
- Sun, Mar 16
- Mon, Mar 17
- Tue, Mar 18
- Wed, Mar 19
- Thu, Mar 20
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Bernard Rose Run Time: 103 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2019 Language: Japanese
Starring: Mirai Moriyama, Munetaka Aoki, Nana Komatsu, Shota Sometani, Takeru Satoh
In this charming action-comedy mashup, a feudal lord in the mid 1800s compels his samurai troops to compete...
Akira
- Mon, Mar 17
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo Run Time: 124 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1988 Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
Starring: Hiroshi Ôtake, Kazumi Tanaka, Kôichi Kitamura, Mami Koyama, Michihiro Ikemizu, Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Tesshô Genda, Yuriko Fuchizaki
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Kill!
- Thu, Mar 20
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto Run Time: 114 min. Release Year: 1968 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akira Kubo, Etsushi Takahashi, Tadao Nakamaru, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yuriko Hoshi
One night only on March 20! From the director of Sword of Doom, comes a deadpan parody starring...
Ice Cream Fever
- Fri, Mar 21
- Sat, Mar 22
- Sun, Mar 23
- Mon, Mar 24
- Tue, Mar 25
- Wed, Mar 26
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Tetsuya Chihara Run Time: 104 min. Release Year: 2023 Language: Japanese
Starring: Kotona Minami, Marika Matsumoto, Riho Yoshioka, Serena Motola, Utaha
Don’t miss this fantastic queer rom com centering around four women and a charming ice cream shop where...
Onibaba
- Fri, Mar 21
- Sat, Mar 22
- Mon, Mar 24
- Tue, Mar 25
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Kaneto Shindō Run Time: 103 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1964 Language: Japanese
Starring: Jitsuko Yoshimura, Jūkichi Uno, Kei Satō, Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama
In this unnerving classic pieces of Japanese horror, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who...
The Hidden Fortress
- Fri, Mar 21
- Sat, Mar 22
- Sun, Mar 23
- Tue, Mar 25
- Wed, Mar 26
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Tue, Mar 25 @ 6:30 pm: Tea tasting
Director: Akira Kurosawa Run Time: 139 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1958 Language: Japanese
Starring: Kamatari Fujiwara, Minoru Chiaki, Misa Uehara, Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune
We’re excited to screen Akira Kurosawa’s samurai classic that inspired George Lucas’ Star Wars saga. This action-packed film...
Look Back
- Fri, Mar 21
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Kiyotaka Oshiyama Run Time: 58 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Kota Oka, Kureha Maki, Mizuki Yoshida, Yoichiro Saito, Yuumi Kawai
Manga drew them together. Life made them best friends.
The Colors Within
- Fri, Mar 21
- Sat, Mar 22
- Mon, Mar 24
- Tue, Mar 25
- Wed, Mar 26
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Naoko Yamada Run Time: 101 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akari Takaishi, Aoi Yuki, Sayu Suzukawa, Taisei Kido, Yasuko
In GKIDS new anime feature, Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the ‘colors’...
Cha-Cha
- Sat, Mar 22
- Mon, Mar 24
- Wed, Mar 26
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Mai Sakai Run Time: 108 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 2024 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akihisa Shiono, Marika Ito, Sawako Fujima, Taishi Nakagawa
This cool new movie, freshly arrived in the US, starts as a cute littlelove story between the titular...
Red Beard
- Sun, Mar 23
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Akira Kurosawa Run Time: 185 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1965 Language: Japanese
Starring: Miyuki Kuwano, Reiko Dan, Toshirô Mifune, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yûzô Kayama
March 23 only Kurosawa’s deep and moving saga follows the personal growth of a young physician working at...
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold
- Wed, Mar 26
Midnight screenings happen at midnight the day listed. For example, if it says Saturday At Midnight, please arrive by 11:45pm Saturday night.
Director: Kazuo Ikehiro Run Time: 83 min. Format: Audio Amplification Available Release Year: 1964 Language: Japanese
Starring: Machiko Hasegawa, Mikiko Tsubouchi, Shintarō Katsu, Shōgo Shimada, Tomisaburo Wakayama
March 26 only Ichi travels to the village of Itakura to pay his respects at the grave of...