San Diego Asian Film Festival 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. It is the Winter of 1948 – Captain Guzidi leads an infantry unit consisting of just 46 men on a sniping mission. Their orders are to fight until the retreat assembly call is sounded. But that call never comes. After many hours of defense and with ammunition running out, men are falling hard and fast. Guzidi realizes that the call might have been missed during the heat of battle, contributing to the deaths of his men. The first half of the film is mesmerizing and brutal, containing some of the most realistic warfare scenes many critics have compared to Saving Private Ryan. The second half of the film finds Guzidi as the only survivor on a mission to prove the heroism of his men and to honor their glorious deaths. Overall ASSEMBLY’s unflinching look at war can be too much for viewers to digest, but that is also what makes it so rewarding. Co-presented by: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association The House of China

BLACK BELT is a well acted, deliberately nuanced drama about the moral dilemma of a young man forced to choose between his principles and his obligation to defend the helpless. Trouble develops in Japan’s late Showa dynasty (1932), in the wake of that country’s invasion of Manchuria, when a company of military police arrogantly disrupts the karate studies of three young men at the rural dojo of their old wise master. Convinced that their skills can help in battle, the army wants to acquire their services as fight instructors. The fact that actual karate masters portray the main characters guarantees a great martial arts flick. No wires, no stunts and no elaborate special effects. It’s a no-frills fistacuffs that is all simply quick and brutal. Co-presented by: Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana