The 11th edition of the Asian Film Festival Barcelona is here!
The Asian Film Festival Barcelona (AFFBCN), an event dedicated to Asian auteur cinema, is celebrating its 11th edition in 2023. The festival is set to take place from October 25th to November 5th. This specialized festival in Asian cinema continues to uphold its commitment to showcasing a diverse selection of films from approximately 25 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This year’s program is filled with films that explore historical narratives, gender issues, and the various facets of drama, offering a rich and engaging cinematic experience.
Various venues in Barcelona will host in-person film screenings, including the Filmoteca de Cataluña, Cinemas Girona, Phenomena, CaixaForum, Zumzeig, and Manifesta 15 Barcelona. For those who prefer to enjoy the festival from the comfort of their homes, the AFFBCN will also offer online screenings through the FILMIN platform and Betevé. Once again, Phenomena will host the opening film of the festival, and Cinemes Girona will serve as the central hub for the majority of the festival’s program.
The AFFBCN has a long history of promoting and celebrating Asian cinema, providing a platform for a wide range of voices and stories. With its dedication to showcasing the rich cinematic traditions of the Asia-Pacific region, this festival is a must-attend event for cinephiles and those interested in exploring the world of Asian cinema. Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse yourself in the captivating narratives, diverse perspectives, and unique storytelling that the 11th edition of the Asian Film Festival Barcelona has to offer. Get ready for a cinematic journey that transcends borders and connects audiences with the compelling stories from Asia and the Pacific.
1. A Place Of Our Own
Year: 2022
Duration: 87′
Language: VOSE
Synopsis
After a sudden eviction by their prejudiced landlord who refuses to renovate their renting contract, Laila and Roshni, two transwomen, must put their wits together to find a home and reclaim their place in society. The both show a great deal of strenght, but also of fragility derived from their position in a society that constantly threatens and rejects them.
Director
Ektara Collective is an independent, autonomous, non-funded group of people who seek to combine creative efforts and imagination and collaborate with trained and untrained people to make films that are content wise and aesthetically located in people’s subjective, contextual realities and experiences. Through this process Ektara has made and produced 2 short fiction films earlier and is currently in the process of completing a fiction feature film.
2. Avni Ki Kismat
Film Information
Year: 2022
Duration: 130′
Language: VOSE
Genre: Drama
Screening
FILMIN
2nd NOV – 26th NOV
Synopsis
Avni Ki Kismat (Hindi title meaning “Avni’s Fate”) is an Indian film inspired by real-life events. Village inhabitants near a forest in India are being killed by an unknown animal. Instigated by corrupt officials and the media, the villagers are inclined to believe that Avni, a tigress from the neighboring forest, is responsible for the deaths. Avni is then labelled a man-eater without any evidence and this irresponsible act puts her life in danger, as fearful villagers call for her execution. Mihir Ghosh, a tiger conservationist from the city, works with his friends in the local Forest Department and with village leaders to educate the people about coexisting with wildlife. While the country is divided into people who support the execution and others who protest it, Mihir and his friends challenge the official narrative intended to slander Avni, and work towards uncovering the agenda behind the shoot-to-kill order.
Director
Shonet Anthony Barretto is an emerging Writer/Director. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Shonet Anthony Barretto graduated from Soophia College of Arts and Science. Shonet began her career as a choreographer and followed her passion in photography. She soon got fascinated with the art of Filmmaking and made a dance short film Wake Up (2017). In 2018, Wake Up was selected and premiered at San Francisco Dance Film Festival and Shonet was invited as a panelist for their film forum. Her debut Avni Ki Kismat (2022) is a result of her constant hard work and dedication, she wants to explore stories with depth and sensitivity.
3. Declaration/Ariyippu
Year: 2022
Duration: 107′
Language: VOSE
Synopsis
In the midst of a pandemic-stricken Noida, a struggling Malayali couple, consisting of Hareesh and Reshmi, harbor dreams of breaking with their challenging life by migrating abroad. Both work in a glove factory, yearning for a better future. They record a video showcasing Reshmi’s skills, hoping to use it to 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, merged with explicit footage involving another woman engaged in a sexual act. This video unleashes unexpected emotional, social and marital imbalances that put their relationship at risk.
Director
Mahesh Narayanan born in 1975 in Kerala, is a filmmaker and editor known for his work in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career in the film industry as an editor. He worked as an editor on numerous films and gained 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 C U Soon (2020) gained attention for its unique screen recording format and storytelling. Narayanan has also worked as an editor on several Malayalam films and continues to be a notable figure in the industry.
4. Goldfish
Film Information
Year: 2023
Duration: 103′
Language: VOSE
Synopsis
With the help of some neighbours and leaving behind a life that she must abandon a young woman returns home to deal with her mother’s dementia and the scars of her childhood, with the objective too to find her place in the world.
Director
Pushan Kripalani is a cinematographer and director. His first film, The Threshold (2015) was acclaimed in its short festival run, receivin awards at MAMI and the NFDC Film Bazaar, and obtaining Best Actor and Best Actress at the New York Indian Film Festival. As a cinematographer, he has filmed several feature films, commercials, documentaries and short films. He has worked on over thirty productions for stage and radio, in roles ranging from director to actor, designer, musician and producer. Goldfish (2023) is his second feature film.
5. Mariam
Film Information
Year: 2022
Duration: 78′
Language: VOSE
Genre: Drama
Screening
FILMIN
2nd NOV – 26th NOV
Synopsis
This is story of a migrant couple, Mariam and Abdul who living with their three daughters in the slum of Mumbai, who are now facing hardships for their survival after the lockdown during the Covid pandemic. Mariam has to indulge in an illegal deed to get some financial aid. She is trying to give her three daughters a better education while she works as maid. Abdul has a tailoring shop at a pedestrian street which is always a target of municipal corporations. An increasingly traumatic journey every time Mariam comes to know about the unexpected consequences of her misdeeds. A series of hurdles strike Mariam’s family and eventually, they get to a point in which they have to decide whether to stay in the city or move back to their village.
Director
Arvind Pratap is a self-taught screenwriter and director. He was born and raised in a small village Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur District, Uttar Pradesh. After completing his MBA in marketing, he shifted to filmmaking. He is now based in Mumbai and is the Managing Director of Folklore Films which supports independent filmmaking in the region. He is best known for making indigenous and realistic films with Professional and non-professional actors. He describes himself as an avid lover and fanatic of artistic cinema worldwide.
6. Our Home
Film Information
Year: 2022
Duration: 89′
Language: VOSE
Genre: Drama
Synopsis
Belonging to an isolated fishing community of the Loktak lake, Chaoren makes the best use of his exclusive existence by excelling in school. When the canoe he uses every day to attend school must be sold off because of his father’s illness, his spirit is not dampened. He beats the long distance from his shanty floating hut to his school by swimming his way through. But when the Government issues an eviction notice demanding Chaoren’s family to leave their home, his dreams are left with the angst of a displaced person.
Director
Romi Meitei is prolific filmmaker who has given several box-office hits. Besides notching up commercial successes, his films have been screened in prestigious film festivals including IFFI, MIFF, IFFK and others. He has won the prestigious FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Awards) and NETPAC (best Asian feature film from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) awards. He has also received several Manipur State Film Awards. He is the Chairman of Mami Thawan Foundation which aims to render services for the welfare of Manipur. His feature film, Our Home, won Best Film at the National Film Awards in India.
Screening
CaixaForum Barcelona
31-10-2023 / 18:30 h.
Buy your Tickets here
7. The Kashmir Files
Film Information
Year: 2022
Duration: 130′
Language: VOSE
Synopsis
The plot follows a Kashmiri Hindu college student, raised by his exiled grandfather and shielded from the knowledge of the circumstances of the death of his parents. After his grandfather’s death, the student, who had come to believe at college that the exodus was benign, becomes driven to uncover the facts of his family’s deaths. The plot alternates between the student’s quest in the present time, 2020, and his family’s travails of thirty years before. The film depicts the exodus and the events leading up to it as a genocide.
Director
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is an Indian film director, screenwriter and author who works in Hindi cinema. As of 2022, he is a member of the board of India’s Central Board of Film Certification and a cultural representative of Indian Cinema at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Agnihotri made his directorial debut with the crime thriller Chocolate (2005) and has directed multiple films since which failed to propel his career forward until The Tashkent Files (2019) which emerged as a commercial success and earned him the National Film Award for Best Screenplay – Dialogues. He also wrote and directed The Kashmir Files (2022) which emerged as one of the highest-grossing Indian film of 2022.
8. Trek to Neverland
Screening
FILMIN
2nd NOV – 26th NOV
Year: 2022
Duration: 105′
Language: VOSE
Genre: Drama
Synopsis
Ekansh witnesses the havocs of finding a political voice in India when a peaceful college protest turns into a riot. He then embarks on a camping trip with “hippie” campers to find his own political and philosophical voice.
Director
Aniket Dabas is a director, developer and executor based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He studied in Uttar Pradesh Technical University as a Bachelor of Technology. He later went on a Certificate Course on Embeded Systems (microprocessors) at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Delhi, and finally got a Master of Arts degree on Cinematography and Film/Video Production at the University of Central Lancashire. Worked on several film prductions but he is mostly known for his works Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013), Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana (2017) and Trek to Neverland (2022).
