Asian films steal the spotlight at Berlin Film Festival

In other news: Chinese government shuts down hacker training academies, and Boeing's newest version of its 747 jumbo jet takes off

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All eyes will be on Asian filmmakers at the 60th Berlin Film Festival, with films by veterans Wang Quan'an and Yoji Yamada book-ending the top cinematic showcase this year.

Opening the festival is Chinese auteur Wang Quan’an’s "Apart Together," a period romance about a Chinese soldier who heads to Shanghai to find the love of his life after he was forced to flee Maoist forces to Taiwan 50 years ago. Yoji Yamada’s family drama “Otouto” (About Her Brother) was selected as the festival closer.

Zhang Yimou’s "A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop," an offbeat comedy set in a noodle shop near the Great Wall, will also be shown at the Berlin Film Festival. Wang and Zhang’s films are in the running for the coveted Golden and Silver Bear awards, along with 18 others.

Also drawing eyeballs to the 11-day Berlinale is the red carpet premiere of Roman Polanski’s competition entry "The Ghost Writer," a political thriller about a best-selling author who, while completing a former British Prime Minister's memoir, stumbles upon a conspiracy.

Showing out of competition are Martin Scorsese’s psycho flick "Shutter Island," starring Ben Kingsley and (who else?) Leonardo DiCaprio, and Shah Rukh Khan’s "My Name Is Khan," where the Bollywood charmer plays an autistic Indian Muslim in post 9/11 United States.

The 60th Berlin Film Festival runs February 11 to February 21.

In other news

Hacker academy shutdown: Chinese authorities have clamped down on the country's largest commercial hacker training site. The state media reported that Black Hawk Safety Net has 12,000 subscribers and 170,000 online course-takers. The arrest came amid U.S.-China political tension over Google hackers from China.

First flight: Boeing's newest version of its 747 jumbo jet, the 747-8, took flight for the first time yesterday.

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Staff writer and editorial assistant Tiffany Lam produced and scripted current affairs documentaries and was a reporter for a local English newspaper before making the brave, brave decision to write about things she’s actually interested about, at CNNGo.