Rome International Film Festival 2008

Just when Nate thinks that he is leaving his job in Beijing for business school in the US, his deal falls apart and his admission to school is in jeopardy. His friends, the environmental researcher and self-proclaimed China expert, Zach, and the privileged restaurateur, Tian, put their self-interest aside to help their friend. Meanwhile, Tian, a Beijing local pleads to his politically connected father to spare his brand new restaurant prematurely scheduled for demolition by the city. Tian's father, who is uncomfortable with his son's modern values, offers no solution. The stress of this final day nearly tears the friends apart as Nate struggles to figure out Beijing business, Zach's hidden insecurities are laid bare, and Tian contemplates his troubles on a journey through and outside the city. Zach and Nate finally get the thrill they have been looking for as they steal a Beijing cab and race to their goodbye party at their friend's doomed restaurant.'Foreign devil' is traditional Chinese slang for foreigners - still a mildly derogatory term for Caucasian Westerners. Through the distorted lens of these outsider eyes, Foreign Devils draws on general themes of oblivious globalization, cultural identity and the challenges of friendship, while illustrating the local contrast and vibrance that is Beijing a city on a fragile course and the brink of history.