Women Filmmakers in Asia See Small Gains Onscreen: ‘There Are More and More Excellent Female Directors and Female Film Crews Every Year’ ~ VOUX MAG

Women Filmmakers in Asia See Small Gains Onscreen: 'There Are More and More Excellent Female Directors and Female Film Crews Every Year' Clifford CoonanSeptember 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM 0 Courtesy of Mandarin Vision, Venice Film Festival A feature of Taiwanese actress Shu Qi's career has been showcasing ...

- - Women Filmmakers in Asia See Small Gains Onscreen: 'There Are More and More Excellent Female Directors and Female Film Crews Every Year'

Clifford CoonanSeptember 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM

Courtesy of Mandarin Vision, Venice Film Festival

A feature of Taiwanese actress Shu Qi's career has been showcasing strong female roles in movies by helmers such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen and Stephen Chow. For her powerful directorial debut "Girl", she turns her attention to social issues faced by women, such as abusive husbands, generational trauma and gender discrimination.'Girl" tells the story of Hsiao-lee, a withdrawn girl growing up during Taiwan's remarkable economic transformation in the late 1980s. The changing social environment on the self-ruled island is mirrored in the way the women and girls of the movie fight to get ahead.The movie is a major addition to a growing canon of movies by female filmmakers in Asia. There is growing awareness of women behind the camera and support is increasing — gender parity among helmers is a hot topic at film festivals these days. But progress remains sluggish overall, especially in major markets like Japan and Hong Kong.Some reckon that female representation remains around 10% to 20% across directing, producing and screenwriting roles, globally. Censorship and gender disparities within the industry in Asia are equally challenging for women.But Shu is confident that societal change in Asia is reflected in the industry."With the progress of the times, women are no longer accessories attached to men, but have gradually gained more identities. I think the world is moving forward, and there are more and more excellent female directors and female film crews every year," Shu Qi tells Variety.In 2021, Chinese-born filmmaker Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win best director at the Academy Awards; she won for her tale of financially stretched van dwellers in the U.S., "Nomadland".In 2022, Awkwafina became the first Asian woman to win best actress at the Golden Globes for her performance in "The Farewell," directed by Lulu Wang. And in 2023, Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman in Oscar history to win best actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once".Celine Song's "Past Lives" has been an inspiration to women in the industry — she was the first Asian female director to be nominated in both the best picture and best original screenplay categories at the Oscars.There are changes in South Asia too. Last year's Dharamshala Intl. Film Festival saw female filmmakers helming more than half of the feature selections. Indian director Payal Kapadia won the Grand Prix at Cannes last year for "All We Imagine as Light", which explores contemporary working-class Mumbai through the lives of three women. The movie has struck a chord with young Indian audiences."I was interested in women who come to a different place to work, and be financially independent. And it was something that I had seen growing up in a family of a lot of women, and also the ideas that we have, that financial freedom can in some way, give us some kind of autonomy, in India it's more complicated than that," Kapadia told Variety at Cannes in 2024.Shu believes that increased representation of women will add depth and nuance."The presence of women adds more delicacy or more tangled emotional changes. Changeability is the unique characteristic of women. This characteristic exists in the language and characters of the film, which makes the characters the soul of the film and more relatable to the audience," she says.She believes gender is becoming less of a factor when it comes to getting a film made."I think investors value efficiency and cost recovery, whether the story will have a market, or whether it is the current theme. Gender is not a factor that determines investment," she says."I grew up in the golden age of film. Many female superstars were born both in the East and the West. Modern female superstar filmmakers have not only dedicated to performance but also tend to be diverse. They are engaged in directing, producing, acting teaching, drama and other diverse jobs, which gives female filmmakers a great room to grow and drives greater influence," says Shu.

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Women Filmmakers in Asia See Small Gains Onscreen: ‘There Are More and More Excellent Female Directors and Female Film Crews Every Year’

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