Film series: “Asian Cinema at CaixaForum Madrid”
The principal objective of the film programme that we are presenting is to bring the public closer to Asian cinema d’auteur, a cinema, which is starting to show up in commercial circuits but only in a selective manner. In this way, we try to establish connections between the cultures of this vast continent through the effective means of cinema, understood as an unbeatable medium of communication. Through these commonly shared narratives and the exploration of their diversity, as well as the collective and personal experiences susceptible to be rescued for their transmission, the contact with other cultures finds an exceptional place in the realm of cinema.
Casa Asia has selected six titles coming from namely, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran and India, a very extensive geography through which the audience get to travel and to know the domestic and daily lives of its protagonists. Produced between 2018 and 2021, these films programmed for these screenings, cannot be forgotten.
Sunday 29th of May, at 17:00h.
My Childhood, My Country | Afghanistan | Dir: Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi | 2021 | 90’ | VOSE
My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan follows the journey of Mir Hussain, who grew up in a war-torn land. In the beginning, he is an eight-year-old boy playing among the ruins of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in rural Afghanistan. In 2002, U.S. troops land in Afghanistan, beginning a seemingly endless war in one of the world’s poorest countries. This intimate documentary traces the two decades of a conflict that has never ended. Beginning on September 11, 2001, My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan is a unique review of a personal life and the life of a nation, where 40 countries have invested more than a trillion dollars and more than 150,000 lives have been lost. Was it worth the effort to be now back at the beginning?
Sunday 29th of May, at 19:00h.
Ayka | Kazakhstan | Dir: Sergei Dvortsevoy | 2018 | 110’ | VOSE | Drama
Ayka just gave birth, but she can’t afford to raise a child. She has no job, not even a room of her own but many debts to be paid. The film guides the public into the reality of babies given up by their mothers, and follows a Kyrgyz girl, Ayka, trying to survive while searching for the child she abandoned in a Moscow maternity ward. It won the award to the Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival 2018, Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival 2018 and the Asian Film Awards 2019; and to the Cinema Extraordinaire at the Bergen International Film Festival 2018.
Friday the 3rd of June, at 17:00h.
One Second Champion | Hong Kong | Dir: Chiu Sin-hang | 2020 | 98’ | VOSE | Drama
Tin-yan got 15 minutes of fame as a child thanks to his magical power: being able to see a second of the future. However, he ended up becoming an adult victim of the potential he failed to tap. He makes a living working in a bar to support his son as a single father. But when the owner of a decaying boxing gym notices Tin-yan’s supernatural power, he thinks he could turn to him to get his business back on track.
Friday the 3rd of June, at 19:00h.
Around the Table | Japan | Dir: Soushi Matsumoto | 2021 | 104’ | VOSE | Drama
Haruko’s “family” is a little different from the others. She is a single mother and lives with her son Riku, her friend Meiko and Meiko’s boyfriend Sorao. One day, she receives a text message from her old friend, the now famous influencer Tomoko, asking Haruko to authorize her 17-year-old daughter Yuko to participate in her summer art school program. And so begins a summer of self-discovery for young Yuko, caught between trying to live up to her famous and stylish mother’s legacy and discovering her own path.
Saturday 4th of June, at 17:00h.
Where is Pinki | India | Dir: Prithvi Konanur | 2020 | 107’ | VOSE | Drama
Bindu and Girish are apparently a typical middle-class working couple in an urban Indian setting with an 8-month-old baby girl, Pinki. They leave their baby with a caregiver and go to work. Sannamma mixes Pinki’s milk with alcohol and lends the baby to a friend, Anasu. Anasu takes the baby to beg on the city streets. She leaves it under an overpass for a while to get a drink of alcohol. A city sweeper, Pathu, accidentally discovers Pinki and takes her away. Bindu returns home on her way to the office in search of something she has forgotten and discovers to her horror that Pinki and Sannamma have disappeared. Thus begins a frantic journey of search in a labyrinth where the meeting seems impossible.
Saturday 4th of June, at 19:00h.
The Dogs Didn’t Sleep Last Night | Iran | Dir: R. Rasouli | 2020 | 91’ | VOSE | Drama
In a remote area in Afghanistan, stories of the lives of a young shepherdess, a bird hunter boy, and a mourning teacher are intertwined after their school is burnt down. The young shepherdess takes the risk of saving a US soldier after her helicopter crashed; the bird hunter boy takes shelter in a tank with the birds, the pin-ups and the illegal music that he loves; and the mourning teacher seeks vengeance on the one who has widowed her.
