EuroAsia Shorts

On June 4th, my dad and I went to something called EuroAsia Shorts in DC, held at the Goethe Institut. It's basically a short film festival sponsored by various the various embassies and their cultural centers. The theme for this year was multiculturalism between Europe and Asia. As luck would have it, China and Germany aired their films on the same day at the German cultural center, and I came up with an excuse to go see it.

Getting off of the Metro, I looked up at one of the buildings, and said to my dad, "Wow, there's Chinese on that!" My dad replies, "Michelle, we are in Chinatown." Oh yeah, I forgot...

Then, when we get to the Geothe Institut, I stared at the people in the theater and whispered, "Uhh, this is awkward. Why am I the only kid here?" My dad says, "Michelle, for the millionth time, you aren't a kid. You're 18." Oh yeah..I just graduated on the 31st. To say the truth, I still don't feel like an adult at all. In fact, people still mistake me for a middle school student. Everyone else in the theater looked 25+.

But age aside, I had an awesome time. It was much better than I had expected, and when I got home, I wanted to RSVP for the other embassies' screenings as well. Too bad there were no more spaces left.

We watched the following short films:

-Raju

A German couple adopts an Indian boy in Kolkata who they believe to be an orphan. When the child suddenly disappears they realize that they are part of a bigger problem.

This video was great, but I had mixed feelings about it, just because it scared the living daylights out of me for quite a few days. I'm the kind of person who gets scared extremely easily, to the point where I become a laughing stock. But seriously, this film's "bigger problem" (as mentioned in the summary) was child abduction, and that just made me so sad and scared at the same time. The acting was amazing. Probably the best out of the three, and also probably why I got so scared. The woman's intense facial expressions are still in my mind.

-UWE+UWE

Grumpy trucker Uwe finds a refugee family in the back of his truck. He tries to get rid of them but gets deeper and deeper into trouble. Unwillingly, he rediscovers his own humanness.

This short film was really funny and I enjoyed it. It was such a huge contrast from Raju--I probably liked the overall story of UWE better though, just because it was lighthearted and provided the perfect laugh :) And it was a German film! Actually, Raju was too, but it was set in India. 

-The Opposite Shore

On an ice lake in the northern part of China, a local middle aged man is holding a memorial ceremony for his wife, who was from a Korean ethnic background: he travels to the opposite shore of the lake to see her family, who had fiercely opposed their marriage. Will a 30-year separation and the death of his wife resolve the conflict?

This film was the best in terms of production, and I was amazed at the double entendre employed. This story was also sad, but at least it had a "happy" ending. Still, I prefer happier videos, but I liked how it combined Korean and Chinese dialects and culture.

So that's it for today :) I'll be back tomorrow with my experience at the AFS picnic!