Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival 2008

A chance encounter between two strangers pushes both to come to terms with past decisions made.

*Director scheduled to attend An exciting showcase of some of the most insane dance performances and unforgettable power moves, PLANET B-BOY depicts the global resurgence of breakdancing and the personal stories of those bustin’ the moves. The film follows a dancer in Las Vegas looking for his big break, a Korean son who seeks his father’s approval and a twelve-year-old boy in France confronting his family’s racism. From the outskirts of Paris to the suburbs of Seoul, the film serves as a reminder of hip-hop's influence on different and diverse cultures. Forgotten by the mainstream and written off as an embarrassing 80s fad, breakdancing had a long climb back to being accepted by the masses, but on the streets and in underground clubs from Tokyo to the USA it never died, bubbling under the surface with a huge cult following and exploding each year in international competition. This is PLANET B-BOY. Following four crews of ‘B-Boys’ from different nations as they prepare to battle it out at the 2005 world championships, this frenetic documentary shows off the dizzying spectacle of the art form, showcasing the skill and acrobatics of break dancing’s idiosyncratic characters – such as ‘Laser’, a Korean B-Boy who has spent a good three to four years spinning on his head.

*Director scheduled to attend. Life is unexpectedly on the upswing when Hanna, an investment banker recently laid-off during the Internet bust of 2000, falls in love with Jiwon, a brash and successful attorney. Her world begins to crumble, however, when she discovers that one of Jiwon?s clients is her childhood friend, Alex, and she must choose between Jiwon and Alex, with whom she shares a deep, tragic connection.

Marty was adopted to an American family from Korea in the 1970s, and was one of the first Korean adoptees in the United States. RED, YELLOW & BLUE is Marty’s recollection of her experience as a person with multiple roles and identities: a child outcast, a Korean adoptee, and Asian American woman and a human being learning how to cope with who she is and where she belongs.

Separated near the end of the Vietnam war, an 'Americanized' young man discovers the painful truth about himself when his Vietnamese biological sister finds him and arranges for them to meet for the very first time with her family in Little Saigon.

SANTA MESA is a story that portrays the courage of a young boy who is forced to come to terms with the death of his mother. At 12 years old, Hector must move to Manila to live with his grandmother Lita. Left to his own devices, Hector falls in with a street gang before an old photographer takes him under his wing. Haunted by memories of his mother, Hector photographs a woman named Rosa until their seemingly disconnected lives collide.

During the dawn of the AIDS panic in the 1980's, young McClain is a gay teen that is constantly bullied in his hometown in Colorado. An Amerasian woman, Karen Nakano-O'Neil, returns home to reconnect with her family-owners of a successful martial arts business. When three teens hospitalize McClain after a near-fatal beating and are then released on bail, Annie, McClain's outraged mother, asks Karen to teach McClain the martial ways. Fearful of small town retaliation and her family's disapproval, Karen agrees to secretly teach McClain, training him at night to protect them both. But when McClain intercedes to protect a friend from being bullied, the teacher-student relationship becomes the town scandal, as Karen and her family must ride the wave of hatred and tolerance.

A modern part of a forgotten history, 'Shiro's Head' takes us to the Pacific island of Guam, USA where outcast Vince Flores (Don Muna) struggles to come to terms with his family's history of secrets and a dark past of his own. Shunned from his family for the death of his father, his attempt to reconcile causes his family's past to catch up to him for the last time. Shiro's Head is the feature film debut produced, written and directed by brothers Don and Kel Muna. Their screenplay is adapted from their original short story entitled 'The Legend of Shiro'. Shot entirely on location in Guam, USA, the island naturally sets the framework for circumstances of life in a small town.

*Several of the directors are scheduled to attend Everyday we face struggles, from tiny little anthill ones to large steep mountain ones. Yet each of these challenges shapes our very being, no matter how small they may be. Examine the conflict and "beauty" the filmmakers present as they take you on a journey of one character pitted against a story's "beast."