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2015 San Diego Asian Film Festival

Asia Pop!

Films to make you laugh, cry, and cheer, featuring Korean hotties, badminton buddies, imperial intrigue, cute kindergardeners, and women you do not want to mess with.

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    THE BEAUTY INSIDE

    Baek Jong-Yeol / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2015 / fantasy, romance / 127 mins
    Imagine waking up every morning with a different face. Now imagine falling in love with somebody, only to know that their first impression will be the last. In the grand tradition of Korean romantic fantasy, THE BEAUTY INSIDE turns this premise into a lush exploration of amorous and cinematic surfaces.
    THE BEAUTY INSIDE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 4:50 pm

    THE BEAUTY INSIDE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 5:35 pm

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    COIN LOCKER GIRL

    Han Jun-hee / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2015 / thriller / 110 mins
    Dickens meets Godfather when Il-Young, abandoned in a coin locker as a baby, grows up as a fierce daughter in a family of loan sharks. But teenage rebellion turns deadly when she starts to battle her adopted mother, the intimidating, coiffed-for-murder matron of the Chinatown underworld.
    COIN LOCKER GIRL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, November 6, 2015 9:20 pm

    COIN LOCKER GIRL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 8:20 pm

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    THE DARK HORSE

    James Napier Robertson / Asia Pop! / New Zealand / 2014 / drama / 124 mins
    Whale Rider’s Cliff Curtis stars as Maori chess legend Genesis Potini, an outsider in life who nonetheless stands up for underprivileged youth by creating opportunities for them through chess. Based on a true story, this raw and inspiring drama stokes passion that transcends class and disease.
    THE DARK HORSE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 8:35 pm

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    DEADMAN INFERNO

    Hiroshi Shinagawa / Asia Pop! / Japan / 2015 / comedy, horror, thriller / 108 mins
    A crew of washed-up yakuza are about to hang up their coats until ZOMBIES ATTACK!! With the help of a high-kicking daughter, a reggae-loving fisherman, a questionable cop, and absolutely zero help from the authorities, they rediscover their calling in Japan’s most pitch-perfect horror-comedy in years.
    DEADMAN INFERNO

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 9:40 pm

    DEADMAN INFERNO

    La Paloma Theatre
    Saturday, November 14, 2015 7:30 pm

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    FULL STRIKE

    Derek Kwok, Henri Wong / Asia Pop! / Hong Kong / 2015 / comedy, sports / 108 mins
    A down-and-out ex-badminton champ shakes off her shuttlecock to reclaim her family honor from a trio of conniving thieves. Only in Hong Kong can this sports redemption tale play out with the lunacy of a thriller and the hysterical charms of a goofy comedy.
    FULL STRIKE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:20 pm

    FULL STRIKE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, November 10, 2015 7:55 pm

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    GO AWAY MR. TUMOR

    Han Yan / Asia Pop! / China / 2015 / romantic comedy / 128 mins
    A plucky 30-year-old artist is hospitalized, but while friends fret about her health, she finds herself pleasantly distracted by her gorgeous doctor played by Daniel Wu. Gracefully personifying the manic spirit and emotion of the original web comic, actress Bai Baihe proves why she’s China’s new box office queen.
    GO AWAY MR. TUMOR

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 5:20 pm

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    THE LAST REEL

    Sotho Kulikar / Asia Pop! / Cambodia / 2014 / drama, historical / 105 mins
    The rebellious Sophoun is milling about a crumbling movie theater when something catches her eye: a picture of her mother from decades ago. Digging into her mom’s history unearths an entire catalogue of glamour from the golden years of Cambodian cinema, inspiring Sophoun to bring the past back to life.
    THE LAST REEL

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 8:25 pm

    THE LAST REEL

    La Paloma Theatre
    Saturday, November 14, 2015 5:15 pm

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    LITTLE BIG MASTER

    Adrian Kwan / Asia Pop! / Hong Kong / 2015 / comedy, drama, family / 112 mins
    Miriam Yeung plays a star school principal who can get any job she wants, but opts instead to save a struggling kindergarten from closing on its five students. With uncommon sincerity and a mountain of cuteness, this family-friendly Hong Kong hit fights class inequality with the fervor of principle.
    LITTLE BIG MASTER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 1:00 pm

    LITTLE BIG MASTER

    La Paloma Theatre
    Saturday, November 14, 2015 1:00 pm

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    LORNA

    Sigrid Andrea Bernardo / Asia Pop! / Philippines / 2014 / romantic comedy / 124 mins
    Lorna, 60, has men in her midst: the ex-husband, the smooth-talker, the overseas boyfriend, and the rock star with a stoned smile. Love should come easy, but as Lorna quickly learns, it doesn’t always get easier with age. Shamaine Buencamino and Lav Diaz alternate stealing the show in this retro, dashing comedy.
    LORNA

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, November 6, 2015 6:30 pm Buy Tickets

    LORNA

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 6:05 pm

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    OBON BROTHERS

    Akira Osaki / Asia Pop! / Japan / 2015 / comedy, romance / 107 mins
    A struggling director moves in with his sick brother after his wife’s divorce threats send him packing. On top of that: a forced double-date that’s no good for anybody. But in honor of the follies of fate, OBON BROTHERS spins calamity into gentle observation and wry, cool comedy.
    OBON BROTHERS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 7:00 pm

    OBON BROTHERS

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, November 9, 2015 4:00 pm Buy Tickets

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    THE ROYAL TAILOR

    Lee Won-Suk / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2014 / comedy, historical / 127 mins
    Court politics get tangled in this farce about an emperor, his personal tailor, and a cocksure young designer who has wild ideas about fashion, spinning the city asunder. From one of Korea’s best comedy directors comes sexy period intrigue with a distinctly modern twist.
    THE ROYAL TAILOR

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Monday, November 9, 2015 8:15 pm

  12. SHORTS FOR SHORTIES!

    Asia Pop! / 45 mins
    Family-friendly animated and live-action short films about resilience, childhood, acceptance, and friendship.

    In This Program: HELLO FROM MALAYSIA, SWITCH MAN, DECORATIONS, BY YOUR SIDE, SUPER GIRL, AFTERNOON CLASS, JOHNNY EXPRESS

    SHORTS FOR SHORTIES!

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 11:00 am

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    TWENTY

    Lee Byeong-Heon / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2015 / comedy / 115 mins
    Three buds may be entering their twenties, but they are by no means men, at least as evidenced by their skirt-chasing and general shirking of responsibility. But the circling women force them into adulthood, a ride fuelled by soju, awkward laughter, and above all, a bond to survive any decade.
    TWENTY

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Tuesday, November 10, 2015 8:15 pm

    TWENTY

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, November 12, 2015 8:30 pm

  14. WE ARE FAMILY

    Jim Wang / Asia Pop! / Taiwan / 2015 / comedy / 111 mins
    Three slacker roommates who can barely take care of themselves are put to the test when an old friend arrives with a baby, a wad of cash, and a plea for help. Now, the trio must get creative to keep the crying baby happy and secret from prying eyes.
    WE ARE FAMILY

    UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
    Saturday, November 7, 2015 1:00 pm

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    WONDERFUL NIGHTMARE

    Kang Hyo-jin / Asia Pop! / South Korea / 2015 / comedy / 123 mins
    In this touching comedic fantasy, the city’s top attorney dies in an accident, but is given a second chance at life if she can trade places with an ordinary mother for one month. Leave it to actress Uhm Jung-hwa to take no prisoners – even when locked-up in her own suburban cell.
    WONDERFUL NIGHTMARE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Friday, November 6, 2015 5:50 pm

    WONDERFUL NIGHTMARE

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Sunday, November 8, 2015 2:40 pm

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    THE WONDERFUL WEDDING

    Huang Chao-liang / Asia Pop! / Taiwan / 2015 / comedy, romance / 104 mins
    A cranky Taiwanese dad gets the dreaded news that his precious daughter is marrying a mainlander, setting off a cross-cultural comedy of reluctant in-laws and pre-marital hijinks. Fuelled by love and a sense of fun, this box-office hit impressively balances genuine anxiety with straight-up silliness, a fitting allegory for cross-straits relations.
    THE WONDERFUL WEDDING

    UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
    Friday, November 6, 2015 7:00 pm

    THE WONDERFUL WEDDING

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 3:20 pm

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    ZINNIA FLOWER

    Tom Shu-Yu Lin / Asia Pop! / Taiwan / 2015 / drama, romance / 96 mins
    They say it takes 100 days to mourn a death. Director Tom Lin, who made the gripping ZINNIA FLOWER to cope with his wife’s own passing, gifts us the story of two strangers who lose their loved ones in a car crash and discover that mourning takes more than time, but an unexpected, liberating journey of solitude.
    ZINNIA FLOWER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Wednesday, November 11, 2015 3:40 pm

    ZINNIA FLOWER

    UltraStar Mission Valley
    Thursday, November 12, 2015 7:55 pm