NEW PRESPECTIVES OF ASIAN CINEMA

From January 17th to March 28th 2026

Asian cinema returns to the Cine Paz with a program running from January 17 to March 28, 2026. While it may seem a cliché to say that Spanish distributors are showing a growing interest in offering an ever-expanding repertoire of films from Asia, the truth is that Asian cinema is increasingly present not only at national and international festivals but also in our theaters. The films we will be screening between January and March 2026 come from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Korea, the Philippines, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. Jeo Baby’s The Great Indian Kitchen (India, 2021) opens this quarter’s program. The selection of films continues the focus on social drama and gender issues, presented from a variety of perspectives that reflect the cultural identities of their protagonists. That’s what films made between 2021 and 2025 tell us, such as: Sweet As (Australia), The Wrestler (Bangladesh), Virgin Forest (Philippines), 3670 (Korea), Gone with the Boat (China), The Land Where the Winds Stood Still (Kazakhstan), Gunjal (Pakistan), A Childless Village (Iran), Declaration (India), and Good Luck (Japan). In all cases, our intention is to facilitate a vision of a world, or many worlds, to which we would hardly have access if it weren’t for literature and film.

PROGRAMME

Saturday January 17th 2026, 12 p.m.

A newlywed woman hopes to be happy, but her days begin and end in the kitchen. Her husband works as a teacher, and her mother-in-law flies to the United States for the birth of her daughter. Meanwhile, she looks for a job, and when she thinks she’s found one, her father-in-law blocks her. With each passing day, the problems pile up, and finally, the protagonist realizes that this isn’t the place for her and decides to take drastic action.

Jeo Baby began his career in the entertainment industry writing television comedies in 2010, and participated in writing the first episodes of popular television series such as Marimayam, Uppum Mulakum, and M80 Moosa. His fourth Malay-language film, The Great Indian Kitchen, starring Suraj Venjaramoodu and Nimisha Sajayan, premiered directly on the OTT platform NeeStream on January 15, 2021. Following its positive reception worldwide, the film officially premiered on Amazon Prime.

Saturday January 24th 2026, 12 p.m.

In the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, Murra, a troubled 16-year-old Indigenous girl, finds herself abandoned after a tense incident with her drug-addicted mother. On the verge of being lost in the child protection system, she is offered an unlikely lifeline by her uncle Ian, the local police officer. Before she knows it, Murra is traveling down a dusty road in a minibus filled with at-risk teens and two charismatic team leaders. Will this be the lifeline Murra needs, or the catalyst for her downfall?

Jub Clerc is a Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman from the Beagle Bay and Broome regions of the Kimberley in Western Australia. A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Jub has been involved in theatre for many years and is currently writing her first play, Dust. She has worked in film and television as a casting director, extras casting coordinator, playwright, and associate producer on projects that have received numerous awards. Most recently, Jub also performed as a soprano in the world’s first Aboriginal opera, Pecan Summer.

Saturday January 31st 2026, 12 p.m.

The film offers a gradual and intimate account of the regional wrestling style of Bangladesh (Boli Khela), portraying the confrontation between its main characters. Moju (Nasir Uddin Khan), an elderly fisherman, decides to challenge the local champion, Dofor (AKM Itmam), much to the delight of the community, when he can’t sell enough fish. Moju trains daily on the beach, which serves as his gym. His son and daughter-in-law fearfully anticipate the inevitable outcome of the fight and try to prevent it from taking place. Boli Khela wrestling demands discipline and stillness; its development is slow and deliberate. Throughout the film, we cease to be passive spectators and become immersed in an exercise of esoteric meditation. This atmosphere is what makes the Bangladeshi film an excellent psychological thriller.

Iqbal H. Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi-Canadian screenwriter and director based in Toronto, with a degree in Film Production from Centennial College in Toronto. His first feature film, Boli (The Wrestler), won the top prize (New Currents Award) at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival. He is also the author of three short films: Dant (2016), Dhaka 2.00 (2017), and Rowai (2019). Chowdhury’s audiovisual narrative is replete with symbolic elements that, at times, border on surrealism. Cinematography is a key element of his technique, as demonstrated by his chromatic choices.

Saturday February 7th 2026, 12 p.m.

A photographer is commissioned to go to the mountains to photograph a rare flower. During his mission, he accidentally discovers women trapped in a brothel hidden from illegal loggers. Driven by this new information, the photographer decides to change his focus and devise a plan to free them.

Brillante Mendoza (Philippines, 1960) is a director and producer. He is the first Filipino to receive the Best Director award at Cannes for his film Kinatay in 2009. He is also the only Filipino to have received the distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters from France in 2014. He was over forty years old when he directed his first film, Masahista, which won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2005. His films have repeatedly received awards and nominations at major festivals such as Venice, Berlin, Cannes, San Sebastián, and Cairo.

Saturday February 14th 2026, 12 p.m.

3670 | Corea | Dir: Adachi Shin | 2025 | 124’ | VOSE/VOSI | Drama

Cheol-jun is a North Korean defector living in Seoul. He belongs to a small group of people who have followed a similar path. Although he has made close friends, he hides the fact that he is gay. Yearning for a deeper connection, he gathers the courage to explore Seoul’s gay community. When he manages to let his guard down, his life begins to blossom. But keeping his two worlds separate becomes increasingly untenable, until he finds himself in a compromising position that threatens the relationships he holds dear.

Joonho Park studied film directing at the Korean National University of Arts, where he made the short films Almond: My Voice is Breaking (2017) and EUNSEO (2019). He worked as a screenwriter before making his feature film debut with 3670 (2025). His work is notable for its fresh approach to situations not often explored in South Korean cinema, giving visibility to marginalized communities such as the LGBTQ+ community.

Saturday February 21st 2026, 12 p.m. | Within the Chinese New Year

When Jin, a retired mother in a small town, is diagnosed with a brain tumor, her two children take divergent stances. Her daughter Jenny, the director of an English language school in Shanghai and struggling to make her second marriage work, insists on finding the best treatment for her mother. However, Qing, Jenny’s younger brother, who works as a tour guide, believes the tragic outcome is inevitable. Jin spends the last months of her life surrounded by her family, while Jenny and Qing rediscover their hometown. Gone With The Boat (2023) champions rural life beyond its idealized tourist destinations and its role as a balm for instability and family separation.

Xiaoyu Chen is a Chinese screenwriter and director who studied at the Toronto Film School. He debuted with his feature film Let’s Go in 2012. His second project, Gone With The Boat, premiered at the 2024 AFFBCN. The film explores themes of identity and belonging, building bridges between cultures. It garnered significant international acclaim upon its release.

Saturday February 28th 2026, 12 p.m.

It’s a frenetic, raw, and gripping Western inspired by the Great Kazakh Famine, also known as the Goloschokin Genocide, which took place between 1930 and 1933. This film portrays the harrowing testimonies of its survivors through the character of Juspar, a relentless mother who does everything possible to save and feed her two sons, Jolan and Boshay. Juspar tries to reach her childhood village hoping to find any living relatives, but along the way she must survive rain, sandstorms, famine, poisoned corpses, and hungry vultures. This dark period in the country’s history is largely due to the forced settlement of a primarily nomadic society that began in 1928, and the forced collectivization of land.

Ardak Jamansariuly Amirkulov is a Kazakh film director, producer, and screenwriter. He studied philosophy at Alma-Ata University and, after graduating in 1977, studied film directing in Moscow with Sergei Solovyov. Since 1988, he has directed and produced several feature films. From 1992 to 2002, Amirkulov was the general director of Kazakhstan’s largest film studio, Kazakhfilm. He currently teaches film theory at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts.

Saturday March 7th 2026, 12 p.m.

When the killer of a teenage labor activist is acquitted, journalist Shahbaz Bhatti sees glaring flaws in the verdict and launches an investigation in search of justice. But each lead he follows contradicts the last, and the twisted story reveals the horrifying truth about child labor in 1990s Pakistan.

Shoaib Sultan is a well-known Pakistani engineer, director, actor, and writer. He has worked on several short films and other audiovisual projects. However, Darya Kay Iss Paar (This Bank of the River) was his directorial debut. He has also worked in other areas, such as acting and theater production. His feature film Gunjal received the Best Director award at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.

Saturday March 14th 2026, 12 p.m.

As the title “A Village Without Children” suggests, it takes us to a small rural village facing a demographic challenge. In the past, in the absence of a logical explanation for the lack of births in the village, women were blamed. Drawn by the mystery, filmmaker Kazem went to the village and shot a documentary following this narrative, which, however, was never released. Two decades later, the true cause of the demographic problem is discovered. Now in old age and accompanied by his assistant, the director returns to the village with a firm purpose: to uncover the truth and, this time, restore the dignity of the women in the construction of the story.

Reza Jamali (Arbedil, Iran, 1978) is a film graduate who, after producing numerous short films that were presented and awarded at national and international festivals, debuted with the feature film Old Men Never Die in 2019. His first feature film won the Spirits of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and subsequently traveled to other international festivals. A Childless Village (2022) is the second film written and directed by the Iranian director.

Saturday March 21st 2026, 12 p.m.

In a Noida ravaged by the pandemic, a struggling Malayali couple, Hareesh and Reshmi, dream of escaping their challenging lives by migrating abroad. Both work in a glove factory and yearn for a better future. They record video showcasing Reshmi’s skills, hoping it will help them secure employment opportunities overseas. However, their lives take a devastating turn when Hareesh receives a disturbing video via WhatsApp. It appears to be Reshmi’s original video but fused with explicit images of another woman engaged in a sexual act. This video triggers an unexpected emotional, social, and marital upheaval, threatening to shatter their relationship.

Mahesh Narayanan, born in 1975 in Kerala, is a filmmaker and editor known for his work in the Malayalam film industry. He began his career in the film industry as an editor, working on numerous films and gaining recognition for his editing skills. He made his directorial debut with Take Off (2017), a film based on the evacuation of Indian nurses from Iraq during the ISIS insurgency. His film CU Soon (2020) garnered attention for its narrative and format. Narayanan has also worked as an editor on several films and remains a prominent figure in the industry.

Saturday March 28th 2026, 12 p.m.

Taro, an independent filmmaker, is invited to a screening of his new personal documentary at a film festival in Oita Prefecture. Although he attends with great enthusiasm, he quickly becomes disheartened when the festival organizer harshly criticizes his film. Taro skips the opening party and the next day travels to a neighboring town. There, he meets a woman named Miki, with whom he decides to take a short trip. During their brief encounter, they open up to each other, strengthening the bond between them. But when Taro returns to Tokyo, his girlfriend is waiting for him.

Adachi Shin (1972) is a Japanese screenwriter and director. After graduating from the Japan Institute of the Moving Image, he studied with director Shinji Somai. He began writing screenplays after working as an assistant director. In 2015, he won the 39th Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Screenplay for 100 Yen Love (2014). His most recent film, Good Luck (2024), has been screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival, the Udine Far East Film Festival, and the Fribourg Asian Film Festival.

Date: Every Saturday at 12 p.m., from January 17th to March 28th de 2026.
Place: MK2 Cine Paz | Calle de Fuencarral, 125, Madrid.
Entry fee: 6€