Spain & Japan at Euroasia Shorts 2023

Spain and Japan present their short films together at “EuroAsia Shorts 2023” on June 15, participating also in the closing night on June 23 together with other European, U.S., and Asian films.

Now in its 17th edition, EuroAsia Shorts (originally the Asian-European Short Film Showcase) remains a collaboration between a small group of Washington, D.C. embassies and cultural centers. Since 2006, the festival has presented more than 300 short films, including many award-winning shorts making their U.S. debut. Each year a broad variety of films and styles are presented, connected by a single theme. With post-film cultural Q&A’s and discussions with experts each night, EuroAsia Shorts offers an international cinematic dialogue that is uniquely Washingtonian.

The theme (or lack thereof) for EuroAsia Shorts 2023 is Freedom from Themes. In other words, there is no single overarching topic, style, narrative thrust, or aspect of life that all films have in common on their own. By occupying a space outside traditional and tidy boxes of categorization, EuroAsia Shorts 2023 may illuminate indirectly a trend that often goes unnoticed: the consistent inconsistency of life and ourselves. “If we no longer need to live in one place, take the familiar path, act a certain age, follow conventional thinking, love as we are told, or pursue one kind of work, what would we be? When we grasp that we do not, and indeed cannot, ultimately know what comes next in life, would we be free to see and think differently?”

This event is organized by The Japan Information & Culture Center (JICC) and the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C.

Spain & Japan at EuroAsia Shorts 2023

Loop

• Directed by Pablo Polledri, Spain, 2021, 8 minutes.
• In Spanish with English subtitles.

In this society each human being repeats the same action over and over again, in this society each human being repeats the same action over and over again, in this society each human being repeats the same action over and over again, in this society each human being repeats the same action over and over again.

The Old Woman Skin

• Directed by Hiroki Inoue, Japan, 2021, 19 minutes.
• In Japanese with English subtitles.

“I don’t like to be told I’m beautiful.” Before going to Tokyo from her hometown in Fukushima, Kyoko stops by a hot spring. There, she’s given magical skin that allows her to transform into an old woman, enabling her to find out what’s truly in the heart of others.

The Treatment

• Directed by Alvaro Carmona, Spain, 2019, 9 minutes.
• In Spanish with English subtitles.

Miguel is bald and thinks it is a problem, but now he has been contacted by a clinic that promises a treatment with one hundred percent results. It sounds almost too good to be true.

Manga Girls

• Directed by Kedoin Yuki and Okado Takashi, Japan, 2021, 9 minutes.
• In Japanese with English subtitles.

A middle school student loves drawing manga and expressing herself but can’t find a peaceful place to focus. She searches all around her school but feels as if she is being followed, so she ends up hiding somewhere quite unexpected.

Table for 3

• Directed by Álvaro García and Meka Ribera, Spain, 2022, 13 minutes.
• Original title: Mesa para 3. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Five friends book a table at an exclusive restaurant to discover upon arrival that the establishment can only offer them a table for three, so two of them must stay without dinner. An unforeseen event that will test the friendship and ties between them.

Closing Night (all countries + USA)

• On Friday, June 23 at 6 pm.
• At the Embassy of Italy, 3000 Whitehaven Street NW Washington, DC 20008. RSVP coming soon.
• Light reception included after the program.

Glass, Paper, Organic

• Directed by Almudena Vázquez, Spain, 2022, 3 minutes.
• Original title: Cristal, Papel, Orgánico.

​​Juan throws a pizza box into the organic waste bin, but he does not realize that the grease prevents their recycling. Patri begins to doubt his commitment to the environment. In which trash can is the oil thrown? And the batteries? And the toner? A tour of the Vallecas containers will change their lives forever.