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M+ and Chanel bring John Woo movie plus other rare Asian avant-garde films to Mubi
Streaming platform Mubi teams up with Hong Kong’s M+ museum and Chanel to put the spotlight on 10 films, including a John Woo short
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In a world where streamers often get a bad rap for force-feeding audiences mainstream fare, this month sees the arrival of something distinctive. On Mubi, fans of Asian experimental cinema are in for a treat.
The Asian Avant-Garde collection, now streaming on the platform, is a mix of 10 shorts and features, from Dead Knot (1969), an early black-and-white work co-written by John Woo Yu-sum, to An Asian Ghost Story (2023), a haunting slice of docufiction centres on the Hong Kong wig industry in the 1960s.
The collection is part of the ongoing partnership between Hong Kong’s M+ museum and the Chanel Culture Fund, with restorations, rediscoveries and now this Mubi-aided season all turning the spotlight on lesser-known works.
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“ During this Western awards season, we see the influence, of course, of Chloé Zhao or KPop: Demon Hunters,” says Yana Peel, the president of arts, culture and heritage at Chanel. “We think it’s a really good moment to make sure that we’re also making that bridge to the East and showing the incredible influence and impact of these cinematic works.”
Of course, Zhao’s Shakespeare-themed Hamnet (2025) or the animated, K-pop-themed KPop: Demon Hunters (2025) – both winners at the recent Golden Globes – are more likely to draw in multiplex audiences. But there is something to be said for an initiative like this.
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