Asian Film Festival of Dallas 2008

Based on a true story, ASSEMBLY follows one man's journey in search of truth and honor in the aftermath of one of the bloodiest battles in the Chinese Civil War. Winter 1948: Captain Guzidi leads an infantry unit consisting of just 46 men on a sniping mission to defend the south bank of the Wen River. Their orders are to fight until the retreat assembly call is sounded. That call never comes. After many long hours of defense and with ammunition running out, men are falling hard and fast. The realization dawns on Guzidi that the call might have been missed in the heat of battle, contributing to the deaths of those under his command. Waking in the hospital after a brutal campaign Guzidi believes the last of his men sacrificed themselves during the deadly engagement. But he is shocked to discover they have been deemed missing or worse, deserters. He returns to the site of the battle, determined to prove the heroism of his 46 men and honor their glorious deaths.

Chloe, a shy and quiet Chinese-Canadian girl, has had her eyes on a geeky Caucasian classmate since they were kids. Now that they are adults, would he consent to an "intimate encounter"? Banana Bruises is a satire on inter-racial intimacy with a shattering twist.

Otokojuku is a private boys school where true men are made. First year students are quickly indoctrinated into the school's idea of what it takes to be a real man by Drill Master Onihige's constant berating. Momotaro, proficient in both academics and martial arts becomes friends with an underachieving weakling named Hidemaro. Together, they survive their Otokojuku days and become close with their classmates. Omito Date, former leader of the first-year students, plans his revenge against his former school. He is now leader of an evil army from rival Kanto Gogakuren school and fully intends on taking over Otokojuku. The Otokojuku principal, Heihachi Edajima, will not allow personal vendettas on school grounds, so the battle has to be taken elsewhere.

Behind Forgotten Eyes presents the stories of a few brave women who came forward and broke the silence protecting a past that some want to stay buried. What are these stories that were hidden for so long? Whilst Korea groaned under the harsh colonial rule of Imperial Japan, the Japanese military coerced, tricked, and forced the women of Korea into a brutal and systematic form of sexual slavery on an unimaginable scale. Behind Forgotten Eyes combines first-hand accounts from both Korean women and Japanese soldiers who lived through one of the worst atrocities in humankind. This documentary is narrated by actress Yunjin Kim (SHIRI, LOST).

The year is 1932. Three men are zealously engaged in karate training at the dojo of Eiken Shibahara. Their names are Taikan, Choei and Giryu. Eiken suddenly dies, but the ‘kuro-obi’ black belt that will designate his successor has not yet been passed on. "Karate is not about fighting." Who will be the one to heed Eiken’s words of wisdom and receive the coveted ‘kuro-obi’ to carry on as his successor? In a related development, the Military Police Headquarters takes note of the exceptional skills of these martial art practitioners, and the three men are commanded to join their forces. Then, the three that have left the dojo are thrust into a terrible encounter with fate…

At a raucous soul R&B nightclub in 1963, crowds from all over Seattle gather for a chance at alcohol, wild music, and easy money. Amidst it all, a gambling bookie risks everything he has for a waitress down on her luck.

Boomtown Beijing is a film about the city of Beijing, its people and their dreams the summer before the Olympics. The 2008 Olympics Games is China’s debutante ball on the world stage. “ Faster. Higher. Stronger” — the preparation for the Games has turned Beijing into a hot spot of frenzied growth. A 11 year old boy wants to beat the odds to become an Olympics torch-bearer. A road sweeper dreams of staging his own mass Olympics countdown performance. An aging blind athlete makes one last stab at a Paralympics medal before he retires from sports. Together, their stories and scenes of everyday life in the city give a snapshot of Beijing the summer before the Olympics. Boomtown Beijing is directed by Tan Siok Siok, an award-winning executive producer of international documentaries, focusing on the Greater China region. Her executive producer credits include award winning shows for Discovery Channel and Discovery Travel and Living. “Boomtown Beijing” is her first independent film. She directed the film with the assistance of her students while she was a visiting lecturer at the Beijing Film Academy.

He Dashang (Wu Gang) is a middle-aged childless innkeeper trapped in an unhappy marriage in a sleepy city in Yunnan, China. Sleepwalking through his days; everything changes when he spies a black suitcase floating down the river. Retrieving it, Dashang hopes to find his fortune in the mysterious case, only to discover its contents are dismembered human body parts. Thrown into panic, he attempts to hide the contents. Things become even more complicated when a young couple, the sultry Lily (Wang Sifei), and her mousy husband (Wang Hongwei) arrive at the inn. Soon mishap follows upon mishap as He Dashang finds himself over his head.