On June 12, the "Her in Creation" Chinese Women Filmmakers Summit opened at Shanghai Bund Yuanyi, attracting many outstanding people in the industry.
The scene of the special forum on Chinese female directors
Among them, the first sub-forum invited well-known figures in the film industry and academia, including the famous director Ann Hui, Professor Dai Jinhua of Peking University, Professor Mao Jian of East China Normal University, Director Liu Jiayin, and screenwriter and director Teng Congcong. The theme focused on the creativity and influence, challenges and future prospects of women in film art. Through cross-generational dialogues, from senior directors to emerging creators, female filmmakers of all generations shared their experiences and insights in the film and television industry, and explored how the director's female identity shaped the film's creative process.
Maojian
Professor Mao Jian, as the special moderator of the first session of the summit, asked several female filmmakers and scholars present a series of challenging questions. She asked Director Xu Anhua about her understanding of feminism, and asked Director Liu Jiayin whether she had a special self-awareness when creating. Director Teng Congcong was asked about her views on the "happy in suffering" of the women she portrayed in "My Altay" and her identity as a female director. Professor Dai Jinhua was invited to share her views on women's films and the visibility of Chinese female directors.
Director Ann Hui shared her insights on feminism and filmmaking. Ann Hui first clarified her views on feminism. She said that she does not consider herself a feminist, but her work has naturally revealed her sensitivity and concern for female themes. As a female director, she cannot ignore creating from her own gender perspective. At the same time, she also observed that some women seem to have internalized the "male perspective", which puzzled her. Through reflection, she continued to explore her relationship with feminism and how this relationship affects her creative process.
Ann Hui
In response to the host Mao Jian's question about "scumbag men", Ann Hui made many golden sentences. She said that it was strange why many good men became "scumbag men" after getting married. The scumbag here includes controlling and restricting their wives. Regarding the attitude towards film creation, Ann Hui humbly said that filmmaking is the result of teamwork. She emphasized that the success of works such as "Days and Nights in Tin Shui Wai" is inseparable from the suggestions of the screenwriters and photographers in the team.
Professor Dai Jinhua, as the academic chair of the forum, left more speaking opportunities to three industry professionals. She said with a smile that Xu Anhua's modesty and unwillingness to take credit are precisely the qualities that many male directors lack, and are even virtues unique to women. Dai Jinhua also shared her personal growth experience, and even confessed her inferiority complex about her personal appearance before the age of 40. As she has mentioned on many occasions, it was feminism that made her realize that many problems and difficulties should not be attributed to herself, and also helped her to achieve self-reconciliation.
Dai Jinhua
Dai Jinhua pointed out that the development of Chinese women's films is a complex and non-linear process, with repeated changes from time to time. She believes that the creative freedom and subjectivity of female directors are very important. They do not have to choose certain grand themes to prove that women can do what men do, but should decide the direction of their works based on their own artistic pursuits and creative concepts.
Curator Wang Ruhui said that since the birth of film, women have not only been performers in front of the camera, but have participated in the film as creators and directors of film scripts, and have launched an in-depth exploration of film language. This exhibition focuses on those female directors who began to develop their own unique film language when the film industry was not yet mature.
Wang Ruhui
For example, Wang Ruhui mentioned Alice Guy, the first female director in the history of world cinema. Alice Guy had started shooting films before the Lumière brothers' screenings and created the world's first fictional narrative film. This shows that she was not just an early film and television worker, but a true film pioneer. In addition, she also mentioned Sherman Dulac, who was not only one of the founders of impressionist films, but also occupied an important position in film history, although her achievements are often ignored or overshadowed by male peers such as Louis Delluc.
Wang Ruhui said that the exhibition includes many films presented through precious restoration works, although some films can only be watched through fragments, such as Sherman Dulake's "Spanish Festival", which originally lasted 90 minutes and now only has 20 minutes of footage, but these are enough to show the importance and influence of women in film history. She further emphasized that by holding such an exhibition, the purpose is to correct the historical perspective and re-recognize and evaluate the status of women in film history and their works.
Liu Jiayin
Director Liu Jiayin responded that as a teacher at the Film Academy, she was also very sorry that the names of these female filmmakers were rarely seen and heard in textbooks. She believed that it was very important to reconstruct the depth of film history, and she thanked the exhibition and the curator for their contributions.
Liu Jiayin said that she began to think deeply about her identity as a female director in the past two years, and found that the gender perspective naturally affects her creative style and content selection, and she had never been able to clarify whether it was personality factors or gender factors that affected her work. She specifically mentioned that in her work "A Worthwhile Trip", she had considered the transformation of gender roles and realized that such a change triggered a reflection on social gender expectations. She also talked about that although women have equal opportunities in creation, social culture and traditional concepts often limit their freedom in subject selection and expression. In addition, Liu Jiayin pointed out that as a teacher, she has observed that female students born after 2000 have shown more and more courage and self-awareness, and she encourages female directors to explore a wide range of subjects and pursue creative freedom.
Teng Congcong
Director Teng Congcong, who has recently attracted widespread attention for the hit drama My Altay, believes that feminism does not need to go too deep at the public level, but needs to clarify the public's demonization and one-sided misunderstanding of it. She also joked that "Batai" in My Altay is a created ideal male image, "which does not exist in reality at all."
Teng Congcong said at the forum that gender discrimination still exists in the film industry, including disrespect and sexual harassment within the crew, and said that these are challenges she constantly faces in her creative career.
When asked by The Paper at the forum whether women are often less united than men, Teng Congcong denied this view. She believes that in the past, women needed female competition because they did not have resources and could only rely on men. Today, women can make a living on their own. Female competition has become a false proposition, and is far less cruel and despicable than male competition. Through her outspokenness, Teng Congcong made both online and offline audiences feel the courage and boldness of the new generation of female directors. She dares to criticize phenomena she does not like, and she also expresses the visions she hopes to achieve through her works.
Finally, Director Teng expressed her optimism about the future status of female directors, believing that as society progresses, female directors will have more opportunities and freedom to explore diverse creative paths. She encouraged all female directors to bravely try different themes and maintain their sincerity in creation.
