AMN on the Couch is a podcast program by Asian Movie Night where we invite programmers, filmmakers, artists and friends to join us for conversations about cinema, our program and the behind-the-scene stories.

#1 Queer Heritage and Memory, Past and Present Representation - with Kleopatra Vorria 

In this episode, we talk with Kleopatra Vorria about her programming of the upcoming queer edition at Asian Movie Night (AMN), entitled Sanguine Specters Stick to the Skin, which explores how to engage with our (queer) pasts and what we see in the (queer) stories told by those that came before us. Who has been made present and who has been left wanting by the sidelines? What happens at the intersections of queerness with national identity, culture, community and state?

#2 Women's Voices from Central Asia - with Malika Mukhamejan

In this episode, we sit down with filmmaker and curator Malika Mukhamejan, founder of the Almaty-based festival Qyzqaras and curator of our latest edition Tremors Beneath the Surface: Women’s Voices from Central Asia. Malika reflects on navigating life as a woman and filmmaker in Kazakhstan, making her debut feature "Longer than a Day", and building new cinematic spaces across borders — including here in the Netherlands. A tender conversation on belonging, care, and the quiet tremors that shape women’s lives both on and off screen.

#3 Ecologies of Film Production - with Jia Zhao

For our third episode, we sit down with producer Jia Zhao at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Bridging East and West, Jia supports emerging voices and brings authentic stories to the screen.

At IDFA 2025, she presents Kabul, Between Prayers, a new film she produced — a work at the intersection of intimacy, politics, and humanity. From seeds to screen, from soil to ecosystem, Jia reflects on producing with care: own your story, keep it personal yet universal, and stay grounded.

#4 Myth, Method and the Collective - with Raccoons Studio

Recorded in the context of IFFR 2026, this episode features the Raccoons Collective — Panida “Té” Petchara and Tianyi Zheng — whose two films, She Cries the Holy Water and Where Comes Mulan, were screened at the festival this year.

We speak about bringing deeply personal, formally layered work into the space of an international festival like Rotterdam: what it means to share myth, memory, and embodied storytelling with a public audience. The conversation moves through collaboration as daily practice — how trust is built between two artists, how authorship is negotiated, and how the filming process naturally developed.

#5 B-Movie Oddities and Experimental Asian Horror - with Marieke Peeters  

In this episode we sat down with Marieke Peeters, curator of our B-movie edition Shapes of Fear.

What makes a B-movie compelling today? Why do these films continue to attract devoted audiences? And how did she approach programming a selection that celebrates the energy, experimentation, and unapologetic weirdness of the genre?

Recorded in the context of the latest Asian Movie Night program, this conversation explores the joy of collective film viewing, the cultural afterlives of genre cinema, and the curatorial choices behind bringing B-movies to the big screen.