Asia Unseen is a Paris-based monthly event concept combining the special screening of an unreleased Asian film + an introduction by the director or a guest speaker + a tasting session of delicacies from the featured country.
Asia Unseen is curated by La Lanterne Asia, a volunteer-based organization that aims at promoting Asian cultures in all their diversities – specifically through cinema and extending toward a more global experience (food tasting, music, arts etc.).
La Lanterne Asia was created by three film distributors – Grégory Coutaut (Aloha Distribution), Antoine Guérin (Spectrum Films) and Bich-Quân Tran (Dissidenz Films) –, who have observed how difficult it was to introduce to the French (and probably European) audience the variety of Asian films beyond the limited picks of a couple of European film festivals without prejudice to the actual quality of the films or the programers’ inevitable cultural bias, not to mention the pressure resulting from the ‘freshness’ expectations (festivals usually requires films that are not more than one year old).
The organization action is based on the co-founders’ knowledge of Asian cinemas, their understanding of the audience and their complementary networks, which extends into further activities: Grégory Coutaut is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the French online magazine Le Polyester, dedicated to international film festivals and arthouse cinema coverage, with a specific focus on Asia, and Bich-Quân Tran is also a film producer, with a specific focus on Asian projects, and the founder of the French/English online magazine AsiaEtcetera, dedicated to Asian cultures.
La Lanterne launched Asia Unseen in January 2020 – a monthly cinematographic event curated by La Lanterne and held in Paris in association with the movie theater Espace Saint Michel.
Each screening is preceded by an introduction given by a speaker or a member of the film crew, and followed by a drinks & bites reception at the cinema bar introducing local delicacies from the film country.
In doing so through cinema, the goal is to shed light on different and diverse Asian cultures, rid of all prejudices and stereotypes, and further extend discussions in an informal and friendly environment.
As we want to address a broad audience – more specifically open, curious and nice people! ;) –, our selection of films will be based on accessibility and diversity, whatever the genres, so that arthouse films, popular films, heritage films, comedies, thrillers, cult films, all are welcome!
Upcoming event : Asia Unseen #03 _ Thursday July 29, 2021 _ 19:30 _ Paris _ Espace Saint Michel.
Click below to know more and book your ticket!