May 14, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m. (Doors open at 12:24 p.m.) Piedmont Center for the Arts, 801 Magnolia Ave
The Flix Fest’s May film selection is “The Ramen Girl”, a 2009 romantic comedy-drama directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and starring Brittany Murphy as Abby, together with Toshiyuki Nishida as Maezumi, whose powerful interactions as student and teacher provide cross-cultural lessons in understanding and communication.
Abby finds herself abandoned by her boyfriend in Tokyo after impulsively traveling from the United States to meet him, with no knowledge of Japanese and few personal contacts. The reality of her situation causes an emotional breakdown, which places her in an neighborhood ramen shop, where the owners offer a bowl of ramen as comfort for her obvious distress. During return visits to this shop, Abby sees the happiness that ramen brings to other customers, and commits herself to becoming a ramen chef with the shop’s owner as her teacher, or sensei. Brittany Murphy brings her comedic skills to her role as Abby, despite the frustration she experiences from communicating with her incurably grumpy teacher, who speaks no English.
The movie’s plot takes us through this often painful learning process culminating in the best scene of the film, when Maezumi confronts Abby with her inability to bring soul to her broth. Frustrated by his inability to communicate this core value for making ramen to Abby, Maezumi visits his mother with Abby to get his mother’s advice. She tells Abby to put her own tears into her broth as a means of creating a unique flavor for her ramen, which brings the appropriate reaction from neighbors tasting her ramen for the first time. Realizing that Maezumi has found his successor, he retires after 40 years as a Master Chef, leaving Abby to sustain his legacy.
One of the rewarding pleasures of movies is seeing one with friends, and then chatting about it when the lights come up. The Piedmont Flix Fest meets on the second Thursday of each month, and offers a great movie in a comfortable setting, with lively discussion to follow. “The Ramen Girl” will be screened on Thursday, May 14 at the Piedmont Center of the Arts, 801 Magnolia Avenue. Doors will open at 12:45 p.m., and the movie is free to anyone over 18 years of age. Participants are invited on a drop-in basis, and can bring snacks.
The next movie will be “Before Sunrise”, a 1995 romance film to be shown on June 11 at 4 p.m., Please note that the time is later than our normal time.