Cinema Programme: «New Perspectives on Asian Cinema»

We resume the programming of Asian cinema in Madrid, starting from Saturday 20th of January 2024, with the intention of continuing to showcase a cinema that has ceased to be an exception to become increasingly present in national and international festivals or simply in the annual programming of our cinemas.

With its different cinematography and without its cultural identity being subject to objections of any kind, Asian cinema has managed to establish itself in our country. The highlighting of most productions from more remote geographies has contributed to normalizing the interest in global cinema, beyond the physical and virtual borders that have often separated film production between continents into blocks.

Nine titles from Australia, Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Sri Lanka make up the selection that we present with the aim of providing new options and articulating perspectives that provide us with information and knowledge. The program begins with the screening of My First Summer and continues with A Father’s Diary from Bangladesh, Streetwise from China, Latay (Battered Husband) from the Philippines, Cold from India, Bone Marrow from Iran, The Girl and the Sea from Kazakhstan, Bulbul from Nepal and Alborada from Sri Lanka.

Saturday 20th of January 2024, at 12:00h

My First Summer

Dir. Katie Found | 2020 | 78’ | VOSE | Drama

Claudia is 16 years old and has grown up isolated from the outside world. Lost after the death of her mother, she is surprised when Grace, an energetic local teenager, appears in the garden like a mirage that gradually becomes a breath of fresh air. After overcoming their resistance, both protagonists manage to find the support, love and intimacy that they need, and teach each other the restorative power of human connection. But their idyllic peace is fragile as the adult world closes in and threatens the existence of this secret summer love.

Saturday 27th of January 2024, at 12:00h

A Father’s Diary

Dir. Golma Mustofa | 2021 | 113’ | VOSE | Drama

Hassan and Mario are neighbours. They have raised their daughters, Dina and Isabella, together, supporting each other through difficult times. When Hassan faces the challenges of modern life, both inside and outside the home, his explosive reactions put everything in danger. His daughter Dinah seems to become more than just a good friend to Isabella, requiring important decisions to be made. A Father’s Diary chronicles a man’s love for his family and tells how passion and fear can win out over love, loyalty and reason. 

Saturday 3rd of February 2024, at 12:00h

Streetwise

Dir: Na Jiazuo | 2021 | 93’ | VOSE | Drama

Dongzi must find money to pay for his father’s hospital. To seduce the woman he loves, even though she is the ex of a gang leader, he becomes a debt collector. At night, at the streets of Zhenwu, anything can happen.
Na Jiazuo is a young male director known for this film. Na Jiazuo is of Manchu ethnicity, born in 1989 and raised in Beijing. In 2006 he entered the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts. Upon graduation, he hoped to go to the Dunhuang Grottoes to sculpt or work on mural restoration, but he failed to make the final selection list for the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts. In 2010, he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy and majored in cinematography. Streetwise is his first feature film. 

Saturday 10th of February 2024, at 12:00h

Latay (Battered Husband)

Dir: Ralston Gonzalez | 2020 | 85’ | VOSE | Drama

Lando is a modest fisherman who participates every year in the Trans Festival “Aguman Sanduk” with his companions, the Alpha males. His day-to-day life, however, hides a big secret. He is married and mistreats his wife, Lori. When she discovers that Lando is seeing his ex-girlfriend, she starts abusing her husband physically and mentally. Lori is constantly suspicious of the women he is involved with, which introduces a great deal of instability into the relationship. It is a very conflictive relationship, even though after each argument they end up engaging in sexual intercourse. But the wear and tear are evident, and Lori ends up realizing that she no longer loves Lando. 

Saturday 17th of February 2024, at 12:00h

Cold

Dir. Anoop K K | 2021 | 126’ | VOSE | Drama

Set in the backdrop of the chaos of the capital and the misty fields of mustard flowers, Cold narrates the deep and endless thoughts, nightmares and sufferings of the protagonist, Varsha, an artist who paints according to her moods and emotions. She lives as a renter in the city center with her pet, Kiya. Orphaned and deprived of her childhood, Varsha is unable to trust anyone, but her life changes, when she meets Meriyam Joseph, a nun who was a friend of her mother. Varsha’s physical and emotional journey with this character allows her to discover her mother’s life and the tragedy that made her an orphan.

Saturday 24th of February 2024, at 12:00h

Bone Marrow

Dir: Hamid Reza Ghorbani | 2020 | 107’ | VOSE | Drama

When there is no hope left to save her son from leukemia, Bahar discovers that there is still a small chance to prevent his death: using umbilical cord blood. However, she has little time and must make a life-changing decision: stay with her beloved second husband, or remarry her first husband and give birth again to obtain the cord blood. Everything becomes complicated when she learns that her first husband is out of the psychiatric hospital but condemned to death for murder. 

Saturday 2nd of March 2024, at 12:00

The Girl and the Sea

Dir. A. Zairov/M. Mamyrbekov | 2017 | 120’ | VOSE

Assel suffers from an incurable disease, but to fulfill her dream of starting a family and having a baby, she is willing to undergo all tests and make any necessary sacrifices. Even when achieving her dream seems unreachable, she continues to hold onto hope until the end. 

Saturday 9th of March 2024, at 12:00h

Bulbul

Dir. Binod Paudel | 2020 | 95’ | VOSE | Drama

Ranakala drives a bus in the city of Kathmandu. Her husband left her six years ago to go to one of the Gulf countries, leaving her with her daughter and father-in-law to take care of them. Ranakala meets Chopendra, a man who will help her to get passengers and will make her laugh with his wit and his particular dialect. At first, she is reluctant, but his commitment and altruistic dedication will gradually give birth to love in her heart. This story is full of secrets and unexpected twists and turns that cast doubt on whether Rankala and Chopendra will finally be able to build a life together. Bulbul resorts, according to the critics, to a poetic realism that favours the uninhibited portrayal of its protagonists and the society in which they live.

Saturday 16th of March 2024, at 12:00h           

Alborada

Dir: Asoka Handagama | 2021 | 108’ | VOSE | Drama

The film narrates the story of the alleged sexual assault committed by the poet Pablo Neruda when he was Honorary Consul of Chile in British colonial Ceylon, from 1929 to 1931. From the story that Neruda himself makes in Confieso que he vivido (1974), in the chapter “The Luminous Solitude”, in seven lines the reader finds out how he abuses a Tamil girl, who comes from the lowest castes of the Sakkilie, who are considered “untouchable”. It is about an innocent woman, who unknowingly participated in a strange story in which much remains to be known.