Vanessa (Savanah Wiltfong) sits and enjoys an ice cream cone with her boyfriend Philip (Shayne Topp) at the beginning of summer vacation in suburban Alaska. Life couldn’t be any better, which is of course the perfect time for Philip to break up with her… he’s heading to France for the summer, and he fully expects that when he returns the two of them will no longer be compatible equals…

A group of college friends arrive at a seaside villa for a relaxing weekend, but there’s one partial stranger in the mix. Elly has been invited along in the hopes that she strike up a romance with one of the single men. The calm ends when an idyllic afternoon is shattered in a scene of pure chaos and uncertainty as one of the children, seemingly left unattended, is found floating in the ocean. And Elly has disappeared.

The temptation to close your eyes while watching The City of Life and Death is strong. War films and the depiction of atrocities committed are nothing new, but they’re most often seen as small parts of a whole. This film forgoes that kindness in favor of making the atrocities committed in Nanking, China starting in the last month of 1937 the center piece.

Movies and TV shows about the high school experience often share a handful of common themes and story-lines. From young love, to clique clashes, to teachers both good and bad… it seems teenagers experience the same highs and lows regardless of geography. Which brings us to that venerable American, well, Malaysian high school institution… the talent show.

Monica Shah is your typical eleven year-old girl out to prove the importance of human contact in relation to raspberry growth. Well maybe that part isn’t all that typical, but she’s also a normal pre-teen with a precocious younger sister, parents who fight a little more than they should, and a regional science fair to win.

Julio and his young, handicapped son Ingo arrive in the town of Payatas with limited personal belongings and even fewer expectations. But a series of unfortunate events leads to their banishment. Where do you go and what do you do when even the most horrific and lowly place on earth won’t let you call it home?

We here at Film School Rejects are big fans of film festivals. You’ve seen our coverage of SXSW, Fantastic Fest, Sundance, and this year we’re hoping to add a few new festivals to our roster. First up is the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, or SFIAAFF.