ORIENT EXPRESS: CASA ASIA in BETEVÉ Apr-Jun 2025

This period goes from April 3rd to May 29th

PROGRAMME

Thursday, April 3rd, 2025

Philippines

Pinky, an Aeta teenager obsessed with reading romance books, is chosen by the nuns to study at Josephine Cojuangco Tech Voc High School. One day, her teacher, Mrs. Kristine, announces the upcoming agriculture trivia contest, in which there would be a “lab” test. Pinky thinks she said a “love” test and volunteers to participate.

Carlo Obispo, a Filipino director and screenwriter, is a very present figure at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. He graduated in Philosophy with a specialization in Artistic Communication from Saint Louis University and is the author of films such as Purok 7 (2013), Gasping for Air (2016) and Baseball Player (2022), with his most recent work being A Lab Story (2024).

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

Iran

Trapped in a dim, hopeless world, forty-something-year old Amir lives his dull, routine life day by day. He lost his mother a long time ago and has no one but a father in an asylum. He doesn’t think of anything else – not even his fruitless love to an Afghan girl, Yasna, in the years of adolescence. One day, he hears about Yasna and tries to find some clues to locate her, but his inquiries show that he must keep looking for her.

Born in 1986 in Tabriz, Navid Esmaeili has been actively working as an actor and director in theatre, cinema and in TV productions. Despite his childhood love for theatre and performance, he was always forbidden by his traditional family to pursue his love. When he was 17, he married Saeedeh Hamidi. Two years later, he decided to enter the world of cinema and go through academia until he, at last, graduated in Directing. Since then, he has worked with Hamidi as producer / production manager of his different projects. In 2021, Esmaeili made his debut feature film, Floor 1.5, which has not yet been shown anywhere. Pakol is his second feature length film.

Thursday, April 17th, 2025

Nepal

In a remote mountain village of Nepal, the lives of a pickup truck driver and a migrant worker intertwine in a narrative that reflects the country’s political and economic uncertainties. The driver sets out from the bustling Kathmandu airport on a mission to deliver a load and a mysterious red suitcase. Meanwhile, the migrant worker slowly makes his way towards the same village, facing loneliness and the challenges of the road. The film explores the personal stories of these two men: the driver, whose life is marked by Maoist violence and whose journey is based on the struggle for survival; and the migrant worker, whose constant walking symbolizes hope and perseverance in a world full of sacrifices and challenges. The revelation of the contents of their luggage is as surprising for those who receive it as for those who deliver it. With this magical road movie, Fidel Devkota proposes a powerful vindication of migrant workers and their living conditions, highlighting how migration, with all its experiences, unites people beyond geographical or cultural borders.

Fidel Devkota is a representative of Nepalese independent cinema, and his films explore themes relevant to contemporary Nepalese society, especially the experiences of migrant workers and marginalized communities. His works combine social drama and emotional and thought-provoking narratives. He made his debut in fiction with The Red Suitcase (2024), which he presented at the Venice Film Festival, transporting the viewer to a world of magical realism, imbued with cultural references from his native Nepal.

Thursday, April 24th, 2025

Uzbekistan

The film tells the life story of the renowned poet Abdulla Oripov, considered both a phenomenon of 20th century Uzbek poetry and a national hero. Oripov wrote and lived according to the dictates of his heart and endured throughout his life the political games of the old regime fighting against the old political system with his poems and odes. The film portrays the suffering of the Uzbek intelligentsia throughout the 20th century until the country’s independence. Finally, it amends the poet’s death in exile, returning him to his people one last time through the screen.

Erkinov Muzaffarkhon is a prominent Uzbek filmmaker, known for his work as a director, screenwriter and producer. His work focuses on historical and social drama, has received both national and international recognition. Muzaffarkhon has been praised for his ability to capture the essence of Uzbek identity. He is especially notable for the productions that deal with the lives of literary and historical figures, as in his latest film Abdulla Oripov (2024).