Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival

East Asia Now 2025

Special program curated by Stefano Locati

The three shorts selected for East Asia Now 2025 are from Japan, Thailand, and China. As usual, they are very different from one another: two are fiction films, and one is a documentary. Yet they share a lucid, raw, and revealing insight into marginalization, explored starting from childhood. From the journey into a decadent suburb of the Philippines in the Japanese documentary, to the exploited disabled children in the Thai short, up to the problematic (and ghostly) kids in the Chinese short, one perceives a fragile world on the brink, which despite adversity does not lose its inclination to keep on dreaming. Once again, the short format proves itself an ideal tool for immediately exploring small yet significant issues of everyday life in today’s world.

I Am Not Invisible

Director: Yuki YORK
Country: Japan
Length: 25’

Synopsis: A Japanese female director ventures into a deeply impoverished area on the outer fringe of the Tondo district in the Philippines—an area that the locals themselves consider “invisible,” as it does not appear on Google Maps. The questions asked of the residents intertwine with those the director asks herself, about what she is filming and the meaning of documentation, in conversation with her grandmother, who is of Filipino descent.

A special thanks to Kusakabe Keiko for pointing out the documentary.

Morlam

Director: Tanaseth TULYATHAN
Country: Thailand – Vietnam
Length: 15’

Synopsis: In the outskirts of Bangkok, a blind boy sings for spare change, imagining himself on a prestigious stage. Like him, other young beggars on the streets also envision a possible “elsewhere.” Tanaseth Tulyathan maintains a careful balance between fairy tale and harsh reality, showing empathy toward all his characters without resorting to a comforting rewrite of the facts.

And I Talk Like a River

Director: QIAN Ning
Country: China
Length: 13’

Synopsis: A troublesome boy is left by his mother in the care of an unconventional temple, hoping he will mend his ways. Against all expectations, he remains moody and soon encounters another child, called a “monster” by everyone, who seems to mimic his every move. Qian Ning creates a brief, irreverent parable capable of evoking the arcane and sublime power of nature.