The singer Thérèse on the music video for “Chinese” – Aude Lorriaux / 20 Minutes
- The singer Thérèse releases her second clip, that of her single Chinese, that 20 Minutes reveals you exclusively.
- Shot in Paris around the Belleville district, Chinese denounces the stereotypes of Chinese women, who experience it through harassment in the street.
- We slipped onto the set of the clip, at the restaurant Le Pavillon des peoines.
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It is a restaurant on rue des Couronnes in Paris, where we usually eat gyozas, sticky rice or peking duck. That day, at the Peony Pavilion, no clients or clients, but an editor, a head decorator, a director and an assistant director who are busy around a young woman. Dressed in a large synthetic and flashy green cape and a sparkling purple lipstick, here is the singer Thérèse, who shoots the music video for Chinese, her latest single about the stereotypes she suffered as a young Asian woman.
“Chinese, Chen Li / Massage, Polite / Submissive in bed / You call me Katsuni” she said over the microphone, sitting proudly in a large red velvet sofa with golden woodwork. Between two make-up sessions, she confides in us that she has “not invented anything” in words, which are nothing but things that have been thrown at her in the face: “I took” Katsuni ” [du nom d’une ancienne actrice pornographique], “Jacky Chan” [un célèbre acteur chinois], “your father runs a tobacco bar”. I did not even have the place to write everything. “
“I speak for my adelphs”
Thérèse and her large electric green cape stand out as much as the red and pink peonies painted on the backdrop of the restaurant. A large golden dragon with a gaping mouth and a phoenix flank the singer, who faces an aquarium of catfish. “When it was necessary to shoot the clip of Chinese, I said to myself that it was the perfect setting: close to tradition and as kitsch as it was magnificent, ”explains the singer.
The rest of the film was shot over two days in the surrounding area, between the Parisian metro stations Belleville, Pyrénées and Jourdain, a multiethnic neighborhood where there are many Chinese speaking Teochew, a language from southern China. “It’s a very mixed neighborhood, which I like a lot, full of layers of immigration. I feel like I belong to it. “A philosophy that is also reflected in her music, which she wants to support all communities:” When I say ‘Banania, cuckoos, same fight’, I am talking about my adelphs. All “visible” minorities have suffered the same. It is a call for the convergence of these struggles ”
Anti-racist activists on the set
To train her band of extras, she brought back her friends “of all colors”, like the neighborhood. Some and some are known anti-racist activists, or figures who are used to expressing themselves on the subject, such as the writer and podcaster Grace Ly, Julie Hamaïde, founder of Koï magazine or even the actor Steve Tran.
The day before, Xavier Norindr, the co-producer of the clip, had to replace at short notice one of the extras, who was in contact with the coronavirus. With François Julien, Thérèse’s music publisher, he is busy in the Peony Pavilion checking that no one drinks from an open bottle, and that barrier gestures are well respected. No fun “having to do the police”, but no choice. In a period of covid, when the concerts have disappeared, it is impossible to ignore the clip, which ensures visibility on the Web, explains François Julien. We wish her all the success she deserves.
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