A scene from "The Assembly," which will open this year's Pusan International Film Festival

By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter

Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's latest war epic drama ``The Assembly'' will open this year's Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) scheduled Oct. 4-12 in the southern port city, festival organizers announced Wednesday.

The 12th edition of PIFF, which has grown into Asia's major international film fest over the years, will close with ``Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone,'' a big-screen version of the popular Japanese manga-based animation series.

Both films will have their international premier in Busan. ``The Assembly'' is adapted from a Chinese short story inspired by a news story. A soldier sets out on a journey determined to relocate the bodies and restore the honor of his comrades fallen during a deadly battle between the Communist People's Liberation Army and the nationalist Kuomintang Party during the Chinese Civil War.

The director Feng's filmography includes the 2006 historical drama ``The Banquet,'' starring Zhang Ziyi, and the 2004 film ``A World Without Thieves'' starring Andy Lau. He was reportedly a fan of ``Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War,'' a South Korean war film highlighting a story of two brothers during the Korean War. So the South Korean special effects team for ``Taegukgi'' collaborated with the Chinese director for ``The Assembly,'' and Seoul's MK Pictures shouldered part of the production.

``Evangelion 1.0'' meanwhile, comes 10 years after the first theater-version debut of the popular Japanese TV animation series ``Neon Genesis Evangelion.'' Directed by Hideaki Anno, the film will be released in Japan on Sept. 1.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr