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.
Hosted each spring at Row House Cinema in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, the festival features films from a wide variety of genres and popular events throughout its two-week run.
The 2026 festival will put a special focus on the Cult Cinema of Japan through film selections and special events. Stay tuned for film selections and event announcements!
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space
By t.o.L
Cult Classic, 2002
OPENING NIGHT
Tamala is a cat living on Planet Cat Earth who is trying to escape the mega corporation that is running the entire Feline Galaxy.
Burst City
By Gakuryu Ishii
Cult Classic, 1982
CLOSING NIGHT
From the director of Electric Dragon 80,000V, comes a film set in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands. A rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest slow, boring, Japanese living and a nuclear power plant.
House
By Nobuhiko Obayashi
Cult Classic, 1977
Possibly the most cult of the Japanese cult film universe! Director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's wild ride of a film is a wild and wacky delight. When six Japanese schoolgirls visit to a country estate, the house turns out to be bonkers haunted. It’s gory, trippy, and a little silly… but never boring.
Battle Royale
By TKinji Fukasaku
Cult Classic, 2000
Before there was the Hunger Games... there was Battle Royale. High schoolers are stranded on a remote island and forced to murder each other to survive.This Y2K masterpiece performs an expert balancing act between a dark satire and a wildly entertaining thriller.
Scarlet
By Mamoru Hosoda
Anime, 2025
Don’t miss this fantastic new anime based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet from Mamoru Hosada — director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Belle, and Mirai. After failing to avenge her father’s murder, Princess Scarlet, wakes up in the “Land of the Dead" where she must fight for her own existance.
Kokuho
By Sang-il Lee
Drama, 2005
OSCAR NOMINEE
Nagasaki, 1964: Following the death of his yakuza father, 15-year-old Kikuo is taken under the wing of a famous kabuki actor and dedicates himself to this traditional form of theatre and strives to become the greatest.
Plastic
By Nobuhiko Obayashi
Romance, 1986
PITTSBURGH PREMIERE
After his shot at a record deal falls through, Jun transfers to sleepy Nagoya and begins busking songs by his favourite 1970s glam rock band — which catches the attention of a fellow fan.
Desert of Namibia
By Yoko Yamanaka
Drama, 2025
PITTSBURGH PREMIERE
A young, beautiful, and mercurial woman from Tokyo navigates multiple love stories while being haunted by her unexpressed thoughts. Her erratic mood and default to self-destruct impacts all of her relationships.
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl
By Masaaki Yuasa
Anime, 2017
This wild and fun film follows two university students – a resilient boy and a fearless girl – on a long night of partying. As the night unfolds they meet a stranger and stranger cast of characters.
Lady Snowblood
By Toshiya Fujita
Samurai Classic, 1973
One of the most influential action films of all time, this 1970s Japanese cult classic follows Yuki — who has been raised as an assassin since birth to avenge her family. It served as inspiration for countless revenge thriller films, including Tarantino’s Kill Bill series.
His Motorbike, Her Island
By Nobuhiko Obayashi
Romance, 1986
From the director of House comes a motorcycle love story! Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. She proves herself a biker prodigy destined to crash.
Funeral Parade of Roses
By Toshio Matsumoto
Drama, 1969
We’re thrilled to show this rarely screened early queer Japanese film. In 1960s Tokyo, Gonda owns a bar in which the gay, cross-dresser, and trans scenes meet.
