Another year is celebrated in Madrid the Chinese New Year and, this time, 2026 will be the Year of the Horse. Casa Asia participates in this festival with a storytelling show for families and two screenings of Chinese films.
China’s film production is one of the most important in all of Asia, as demonstrated by its presence at international film festivals and in commercial circuits. The market has echoed a domestic cinema that crosses borders and competes with other film industries in both East and West. A Woman, directed by Wang Chao, and Gone with the Boat, directed by Xiaoyu Chen, which will screen Casa Asia are two great productions that no one can miss.
On Friday, 20 February at 6.30 p.m., it will be screened at the Centro Casa Asia A Woman. Based on the autobiographical novel Dream by the writer Zhang Xiu Zhen, the protagonist of this film works in a factory, and in her free time she devotes herself to the family, but as long as she can tries to write. The action takes place in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, between the 1960s and the early 1980s. In her personal and family life, she is subjected to daily abuse by her partner, who she has already had more children than she could have. However, he eventually overcomes these circumstances thanks to the writing that becomes his release.
Also, on Saturday 21 February at 12 o’clock in MK2 Cine Paz (calle Fuencarral, 125) will be screened Gone with the Boat. When Jin, a retired mother in a village, is diagnosed with a brain tumor, her two children take different positions. His daughter Jenny, who runs an English school in Shanghai and is 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 disastrous outcome is inevitable. Jin spends the last months of her life surrounded by family, while Jenny and Qing rediscover their home town. Gone With The Boat (2023) claims the rural environment beyond being considered as an idealized tourist enclave and as a palliative against instability and family dispersion.
On the same Saturday, 21 February at 12, 16 and 17.30 hours Casa Asia will organize a Storytelling. It is a show for families with children between 3 and 12 years old, which will consist of interactive storytelling The Horse of Fire, complemented by theatrical readings of traditional Chinese tales, and followed by various recreational activities.
Disguised as a traveler, art-therapist Gabriela Waisberg will take out of her suitcase all kinds of props and objects related to the legends that she will tell. It will begin by introducing the horse, the seventh sign of the Chinese zodiac, which is associated with energy, dynamism, independence and freedom. The fire element in Chinese astrology represents passion, joy, vitality. The fire horse is a combination that symbolizes action, new beginnings, innovation and transformation, but being careful not to get carried away by haste. Next, Gabriela will tell Chinese folk legends related to this animal. Children and adults will have fun with various games in which the public will be divided into teams. In this way, the participants will be actively involved in the activity.