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Books can be life-changing for people who are incarcerated. When Cherish Burtson went to federal prison, books became her source of survival. Her story – and the volunteers fighting censorship to get books past prison walls – reveals how access to reading can mean survival, connection and hope.

Presented by Pacific Arts Movement, producers of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. CINEMATHEK is a year-round screening series presented by Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) and Digital Gym Cinema (DGC), launching in June 2025. Inspired by Pac Arts’ early Film Forums, CINEMATHEK offers members and the public year-round access to curated screenings of classic, cult, and newly restored Asian and Asian American films. Hosted at Digital Gym Cinema, CINEMATHEK strengthens community ties, builds new audiences, and celebrates the best of Asian cinema in one of San Diego’s last remaining venues for independent and international films. Like the Royal Theater in "The Last Picture Show" and the title movie house in "Cinema Paradiso," the Fu-Ho is shutting down for good. The Fu-Ho’s valedictory screening is King Hu’s 1967 wuxia epic "Dragon Inn," playing to a motley smattering of spectators. The standard grievances persist: patrons snack noisily and remove their shoes, treating this temple of cinema like their living room. The sense that moviegoing as a communal experience is slipping away takes on a powerful and painful resonance. Yet Tsai Ming-liang’s "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" is too multifaceted to collapse into a simple valentine to the age of pre-VOD cinephilia. A minimalist where King Hu was a maximalist, preferring long, static shots and sparse use of dialogue, Tsai rises to the narrative challenges he sets for himself and offers the slyest, most delicate of character arcs (the manager, a woman with an iron brace on her leg, embarks on a torturous odyssey to deliver food to the projectionist, played by Lee Kang-sheng). By the time the possibility arises that the theater is haunted, we’ve already identified it as a space outside of time—indeed, two stars of Hu’s original opus, Miao Tien and Shih Chun, watch their younger selves with tears in their eyes, past and present commingling harmoniously and poignantly. Digital Gym Cinema on Facebook / Instagram

In a dystopian near-future Japan, law and order is enforced by a brutal paramilitary police unit known as the Kerberos Panzer Cops aka ‘Watchdogs of Hell’, equipped with heavy weaponry and reinforced body armor called “Protect Gear.” However, when their extreme methods spark public outcry, the government moves to dismantle the unit. Disobeying orders to disband, a trio of officers stage a rebellion—but only one, Koichi Todome (Shigeru Chiba) escapes. Three years later, Koichi returns to Tokyo after living in exile, carrying a mysterious suitcase. He seeks to reunite with his former comrades and uncover the truth behind the crackdown, but he soon finds himself in a surreal and dreamlike city—a shadow of its former self, filled with strange characters, elusive memories, and Kafkaesque absurdity. As reality begins to unravel Koichi descends deeper into paranoia, unable to tell friend from foe truth from illusion. A philosophical blend of film noir, political allegory, and existential mystery, "The Red Spectacles" is a visually striking black comedy that meditates on justice, memory, and the cost of loyalty. It also serves as Mamoru Oshii’s foray into live-action filmmaking and his first feature installment in the Kerberos Saga.

Natalie takes our friend and colleague, Leslie Gonzalez, on her first-ever trip to Tijuana to explore Mercado Hidalgo, celebrate Día de Muertos, and dive into the sights, smells, and flavors of this tradition.

Terry Zwigoff’s documentary focuses on Robert Crumb, the controversial comic artist who created Zap Comix (and characters like Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural and Angelfood McSpade). Crumb started the wave of underground comics still thriving today, and critics have come to recognize him as an extraordinary and iconoclastic talent. A glimpse into the psyche of one of America’s foremost artists, "CRUMB" is frank, intimate, and darkly humorous, full of disturbing revelations about the world we live in.

The film that put director Zhang Yimou and star Gong Li on the international cinema map follows beautiful young Ju Dou as she is married off to an egregiously cruel, and also impotent, owner of a dye mill in the Chinese countryside in the early 20th century. When the boss’ nephew arrives on the scene, he and Ju Dou fall for each other with lustful abandon. Their impassioned affair soon leads to a son. After the clandestine couple convinces the despotic husband that he is the father, the boy is raised as his long-awaited heir. However the myriad complications of infidelity lead to a visceral and psychological melee between the lovers and their ruler with explosively dramatic turns. With its stunning mise en scène and sumptuous use of color, "Ju Dou" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards® and has earned a reputation as one of the greatest Chinese films ever made.

Lecture speaker event with Dr. Alina Polyakova on the Russian-Ukrainian War moderated by SDSU Professor Mikhail Alexseev. Dr. Alina Polyakova is President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) as well as the Donald Marron Senior Fellow at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Dr. Polyakova is a recognized expert on transatlantic relations, European security including Russia and Ukraine, tech policy, and populism. She is the author of the book, "The Dark Side of European Integration," which examines the rise of far-right political movements in Europe, as well as dozens of major policy reports and articles in outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and The Atlantic, and others. She is a frequent commentator in major media outlets, such as Fox News, CNN, and BBC. Dr. Polyakova is an experienced leader with previous roles as the Founding Director for Global Democracy and Emerging Technology at the Brookings Institution, Director of Research for Europe and Eurasia at the Atlantic Council, among others. She has also held numerous prestigious fellowships, including at the National Science Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Fulbright Foundation, among others. She serves on the board of the Free Russia Foundation and is a member of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS) and the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute. Dr. Polyakova holds a Ph.D. and MA in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Emory University. Alexander Hamiliton Society at The University of San Diego on Instagram

Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, is lobbying for tech companies to release data on how their algorithms and content enforcement work. He also urges people to put down their devices and "touch grass."

"Master Class", A co-production with Scripps Ranch Theatre By Terrence McNally Directed By Phil Johnson featuring Sandy Campbell, Kyle Adam Blair, Sara Frondoni, Abigail Grace Allwein, Ben Read & Tim Benson Maria Callas is teaching a master class in front of an audience: us. She’s glamorous, commanding, larger than life - and drop-dead funny. She glories in her own career, dabbles in opera dish, and flat-out seduces the audience. Callas brings the class to an amazing close by acknowledging the sacrifices we must make in the name of art. Visit: https://www.theroustabouts.org/masterclass Scripps Ranch Theater on Instagram and Facebook

The "American Idol of ballet" or "ballet Olympics" comes to San Diego from November 7 - 9. Hundreds of talented dancers (ages 9 - 19) will audition for Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in hopes of receiving scholarships to top schools and companies worldwide. Auditions travel city-to-city around the world to scout these future ballet stars -- San Diego is among the first stops of the season! Free for the public to watch online through YAGP social media/website! Instagram and Facebook About YAGP: Youth America Grand Prix is the largest global network of dance. YAGP fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, and performances. Over the past 26 years, $5 million has been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools, with up to $450,000 now awarded annually. Since YAGP’s founding in 1999, over 200,000 young dancers – ages 9 to 19 – of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds have participated in YAGP's international workshops, audition classes, and dance awareness events. Today, more than 12,000 young dancers audition annually. 450 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 80 professional companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and many others. Over 100 of these alumni are soloists and principal dancers. Larissa Saveliev founded YAGP after training and touring with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, before moving to the United States in the early 90's. Visit: Youth America Grand Prix Competition