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A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil (USA/Brazil, 2006)
- Directed by Giovanni Vas Del Bello. Documentary (52 min.)
The story of city planning and maintenance that has taken place in this southern Brazilian city since 1971 and made it a United Nations model for the future. Interviews with various local planners and politicians as well as before-and-after films of various undertakings show how seemingly unsuitable environments can be successfully adapted to human life. An inspiring story in this age of global warming and urban chaos. Not to be missed.

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Happy Times Hotel (China, 2000)
- Directed by Zhang Yimou. Comedy-Drama (106 min.)
A retired factory worker in Bejing has tried getting married eighteen times before, but he's not lucky in love. During his new courtship he pledges his fiancée a lavish marriage celebration that he cannot afford and pursues several schemes to secure money when no one will lend him the adequate funds. It's all fun and games until our hero's fiancée sticks him with her blind stepdaughter and says goodbye. What is our proverbial loser going to do now?

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Hula Girls (Japan, 2006)
- Directed by Lee Sang-il. Drama (108 min.)
Based on true events in the Northern Japanese coal-mining town of Joban in 1965, this film tells the story of the mining company's decision to shut down the mine and replace it with a Hawaiian theme park that would take advantage of the nearby hot mineral springs. Part of the plan is to train the village's girls and women to be hula dancers, a taboo undertaking in the rural north. The feel-good story centers on the women who break the taboo and rise above custom and other social restrictions to find personal freedom.

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Letters From Iwo Jima (USA, 2007)
- Directed by Clint Eastwood. Drama (160 min.)
Eastwood's award-winning epic feature looks at the Battle of Iwo Jima from the viewpoint of the Japanese. The resulting film is a powerful document of a culture in crisis. Through the interrelationships of the soldiers, their loyalty to each other and their country, and through their endurance of facing horrendous situations and the most appalling truths, Iris Yamashita's unflinching screenplay uncovers the humanity and vulnerability that we all share.

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Ms. Yamashita will appear in person to talk about the film and answer questions following the showing.

On The Road With The Red God: Machhendranath (Nepal, 2004)
- Directed by Kesang Tseten. Documentary (72 min.)
A firsthand look at a colorful, little-known ritual. For one month every twelve years, impassioned devotees pull an unwieldy, sixty-five-foot tall chariot through Nepal's Kathmandu valley. The chariot's rider is the incarnation of an enigmatic god, worshipped by both Buddhists and Hindus, who saved the valley from suffering and drought eons ago. Through interviews and spectacular views of the ritual and its thousands of participants, a roiling picture of the human condition, simultaneously sacred and profane, is revealed in the astonishing film.

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My Mother Is A Belly Dancer (Hong Kong, 2006)
- Directed by Lee Kung-Lok. Comedy-Drama (100 min.)
When an Arab belly dancer in Hong Kong offers to provide lessons for women, the proposal is shocking to most of the neighborhood wives but a handful of women sign up for the course, each for her own reasons. This film is a study of these women and their lives, concentrating on why they took the controversial class and what they hoped to gain from it.

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My Name Is Belle (USA, 2007)
- Directed by Terri DeBono and Steve Rosen. Documentary (32 min.)
A lyrical portrait of the prize-winning Chinese American painter and writer, Belle Yang. Through interviews with Ms. Yang and watching her work, we see the biographical origins of her pictures and stories. Buoyant, poignant and filled with vibrant colors, this gentle film brings a uniquely original artist and her work to life for the viewer. Artist Belle Yang and directors Terri DeBono and Steve Rosen will be present at the Rio Theatre screening.

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Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula (USA, 2006)
- Directed by Lisette Marie Flanary. Documentary (56 min.)
Winner of the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film follows a demanding class for male hula dancers who are preparing for Hawaii's annual Merrie Monarch Hula Competition in 2005. Interviews, history and, at the center of it all, the electrifying presence of legendary recording artist and dedicated male hula teacher Robert Cazimero, the driving force behind the group,

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give this documentary an-edge-of-your seat excitement. Not to be missed.
Hula master and musician Robert Cazimero will be present at the Benefit.

Shanghai Kiss (USA, 2007)
- Directed by Kern Konwiser and David Ren. Comedy-Drama (100 min.)
The story of a young Chinese American man named Liam Liu who leads an unhappy life in Los Angeles. Estranged from his father, unsure of his identity and trying to make it as an actor, he drifts through his days and spends his nights in anguished isolation. During this endless round, he is pursued by a teenage girl who both intrigues and annoys him but whom he knows is too young for him. When Liam is suddenly informed that he has inherited his grandmother’s house in Shanghai, the film takes an unexpected turn. Ken Leung, as Liam, is hilarious and poignant, and gives one of the most memorable performances in Pac Rim Festival history. Don’t miss this film.

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Sunflower (China, 2006)
- Directed by Zhang Yang. Drama (129 min.)
An epic story of modern China that moves from 1962 to the new millennium. The film follows the growth of a young boy to adulthood and his struggles with his father over the years. The old man is a painter but can no longer paint, after spending several years in a labor force during the Cultural Revolution, where his hands were broken. When he returns home, his struggle with his rebellious young son begins.

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Revolving around important historical moments, the film pointedly shows the changes in China and its people over the last forty years.

The Color of Fear. (USA, l995)
- Directed by Lee Mun Wah. Documentary (90 min.)
Eight American men of Asian, European, Latino and African descent spend a weekend together talking about racism. Out of their confrontations and struggles to understand each other emerges a dialogue that most of us both fear and hope will happen in our lives. This film is shown to celebrate the legacy of community activist Tony Hill, who dedicated his life to cross-cultural understanding.

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