RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE
In a darkened cinema, a trendily-dressed young Asian man uses chopsticks to pick popcorn out of a bucket. The eye-catching poster is publicising the 6th edition of CinemAsia Film Festival which came to a close recently in Amsterdam.
This Asian twist to the universal habit of snacking on popcorn while enjoying a movie encapsulates the aims of the film festival – to enhance the visibility of Asian people in the Netherlands through Asian films and to stimulate Asian cinema in the Dutch film industry.
Becoming visible
Speaking to RNW, Doris Yeung, Chinese American film maker and founder of CinemAsia, said, “About 10% of the Dutch population is more or less related to Indonesia or other parts of Asia. Yet in the media as well as in the political realm, Asian people are barely visible. Asian diaspora groups are usually closed to outsiders. We need to speak for ourselves and speak against the stereotypes and biases in the Western media and society. If we don’t do this ourselves, who else will?”
Yeung studied film at UCLA and came to the Netherlands in 2001. Inspired by existing festivals in the US, Yeung launched CinemAsia in 2003. Since then, the festival has grown to become a creative platform for independent Asian film makers, Asian-Dutch residents and media professionals in the field.
RNW for more