Sun Yao
Owner and Director
Sun Yao pours his own style and taste into his bar. Camera Stylo is the embodiment of his love for films.
A Halloween Night in “Stylo”
If you are in China you might have realized that the cinematic options available for foreigners are considerably limited. Besides major blockbusters that often come to Chinese cinemas months later after their release weekend in the west, some western movies are not shown in the country (Especially horror movies) and sadly Netflix is not here to save us, fortunately there are other alternatives, and one of those is having a nice time in Camera Stylo.
Camera Stylo is a film-house/bar that prides itself on the vibe it offers to its customers. The record-player, the movie posters, and the European style does make it stand out from the competition. The establishment has been in business since 2 and half years ago, the name is a combination of English and French, alluding to Alexandre Astruc’s idea describing how a director has to step up and become the writer of the film.
Located in Dongsi Shiyi Tiao Dongcheng District (东四十一条64号) Camera Stylo offers a whole different night experience of what is usually found in Beijing, the style and vibe are based on the own personal taste of the owner, a 31-year-old Chinese man called Sun Yao, a film lover who after realizing that his editing and filming job was not his true calling he decided to shift his effort into creating a place for screening.
Camera Stylo hosts several movie screenings per week, as well as it invites artists and directors to come in and give a Q&A to aspiring film-makers and aficionados. They also have acoustic sessions with musicians, host stand-up comedy shows, and sometimes lend the place to comedy improv troupes. This place is intended for film lovers, in here you will have the opportunity to watch indie-films and mingle with a cult following fan base. What’s more, for those of us Chinese-language-handicapped the Chinese films shown are always subtitled for both audiences, foreigner and Chinese.
After my friend Krishna Moniz mentioned this place, I and a few other friends decided to go for the first time. Kris had been there 3 times already, and described the place as “It’s pretty cozy and chill. They do obscure movies, which is awesome. The projection equipment/sound is not that great.” Then when asked why would anyone go there to watch a movie, he added, “It’s basically like watching a movie at someone’s house, but an awesome house.”
When went there on the October the 27th, they were having a Halloween-themed event. We squeezed in with 30 people in a medium-sized room to watch the newest iteration of Stephen King’s IT. Besides having an interesting jelly blood bag-like drink selection, and an eager audience wanting to watch the film which wasn’t released in China, we were told to throw at the screen some strips of red paper every time there was blood or slashing in the movie giving us the chance to have a more interactive experience.
Locals and foreigners enjoyed the wicked night with drinks and snacks making it a really fearful yet enjoyable time. I myself regard this place as a fun way to spend a night out in Beijing, and hope anyone interested in cool movies with cool people would give it a try.
