Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Culture Level 2 Essay Name: Hiu Tung Karen Law Student ID: 11041177 Tutor: Sarah Jenkins Programme: Media Practice Level 2
What
do
Hong
Kong
women
filmmakers
think
of
their
roles
in
the
industry?
As
far
as
I
know,
filmmaking
continues
to
be
the
most
gender
inequitable
career
in
the
arts.
In
this
essay,
I
want
to
explore
how
far
new
feminism
helps
women
to
be
directors
or
other
important
roles
in
the
film
industry
and
the
circumstances
of
women
in
the
industry.
This
essay
focuses
on
women
directors
in
Hong
Kong
cinema.
What
is
new
feminism?
Tseelon
E.
(1995)
said
that
women
should
attack
any
cultural,
social
or
sexual
behaviour
that
they
disliked.
She
quoted
MacCannells
(1987)
saying,
Beauty
is
only
male
insecurity
displaced.
This
argument
suggests
femininity
is
a
particular
representation
of
the
woman,
which
is
not
essential,
but
is
a
constructed
identity.
Walter
N.
(1999)
wrote
in
the
book
about
new
feminism.
Feminism
has
recently
been
associated
more
with
a
movement
to
change
womens
attitudes
and
societys
culture
than
with
these
material
inequalities.
(p.
3)
Feminism
is
a
social
movement,
like
environmental
or
civil
rights
movements,
that
relies
on
a
spreading
consensus
among
diverse
people.
(p.
5)
Imbalance of gender in film industry Ford (2012) states that only 5 percent of directors were women. That is a decrease of 2 percentage points from 2010 and approximately half the percentage of women directors working in 1998. An article in Indiewire written by Melissa Silverstein (January 2012) reveals that 38% of films employed 0 or 1 woman in the roles considered, 23% employed 2 women, 30% employed 3 to 5
women,
and
7%
employed
6
to
9
women.
Another
article
in
Indiewire
written
by
Melissa
Silverstein
(December
2011)
shows
the
statistics
produced
by
Writers
Guild
West.
In
2009,
men
got
22.4%
more
for
the
median
annual
pay
in
film
then
that
for
women.
In
TV
men
made
9.53%
more
then
women.
Also
the
statistics
produced
by
Center
for
the
Study
of
Women
in
TV
and
Film
at
San
Diego
State
University
show
that
women
hold
16
percent
of
powerful
behind-the-scenes
jobs,
which
include
writing,
directing
and
editing.
From
the
above
statistics,
it
can
be
seen
that
there
is
only
a
little
involvement
of
women
directors
in
the
industry.
Why
are
there
only
a
few
women
directors?
Kung
Fu
Panda
2
director
Jennifer
Yuh
Nelson
told
The
Hollywood
Reporter
in
January
2012
that
when
she
spoke
at
schools,
some
female
students
told
her
they
never
envisioned
themselves
being
directors,
since
they
have
never
seen
women
do
it.
General situation and women workers in Hong Kong cinema Chan (2005) reveals some facts about Hong Kong cinema. She said popular productions in Hong Kongs film industry offer little bargaining power to female workers. Moreover, there is a phenomenon that Hong Kong audiences do not care about deeper issues happening in society. It is because Hong Kong people are more willing to watch thrillers, comedies and romantic movies that are made to world-class standards. Even fewer filmmakers are willing to discuss gender politics. Like Hollywood, Hong Kong cinema is genre-based industry, commercial films are always more popular than independent films. That really affects the production of independent filmmaking. It is a fact that not many directors can buck the system and expect to do well at the box office. Wood (1990) proves this situation. It is because the projects that women directors have been able to set up are low-budget affairs on unassuming subjects, usually without major stars. There is a contradiction that men directors would like to work with celebrities as actors. Hong Kong famous male director Johnnie To Kei-fung said in the article Hong Kong cinema since 1997: troughs and peaks, 2009:12.
The
presence
of
bankable
stars
has
often
allowed
his
more
experimental
urges
to
still
produce
box-office
success
as
audiences
are
willing
to
tolerate
their
favourite
performers
in
almost
any
context.
For
example,
To
has
established
a
strong
and
continuing
working
relationship
with
Hong
Kong
megastar
Andy
Lau.
The
bankability
of
Lau,
due
to
his
large
and
faithful
fan
base,
allowed
the
director
to
make
films
with
him
that
attempt
to
stretch
his
audience,
make
them
think,
as
well
as
challenging
their
perception
of
Laus
star
persona.
Chan
(2005)
took
Amy
Chin,
who
is
a
female
producer/scriptwriter
in
Hong
Kong,
as
an
example.
Chin
entered
the
industry
as
a
production
assistant
more
than
twenty
years
ago
during
the
rise
of
action
films.
She
was
disappointed
that
so
few
opportunities
were
open
to
women
to
participate
in
creative
work.
In
recent
years,
women
in
Hong
Kong
have
gained
economic
power
and
they
no
longer
rely
on
men.
And
the
concomitant
improvement
in
their
status
allows
them
to
enjoy
gender
dignity.
As
women
have
become
more
independent,
they
are
more
willing
to
express
their
own
viewpoints.
Making
films
becomes
one
of
the
media
that
can
be
used
to
express
womens
feelings.
I
think
that
is
one
of
the
reasons
why
there
are
more
women
directors
starting
to
make
films
in
recent
years.
What
abilities
must
a
director
demonstrate?
Michael
Rock
wrote
in
his
online
article
(1996)
that
American
critic
Andrew
Sarris
stated
three
criteria
directors
must
achieve.
These
criteria
give
an
idea
of
what
auteur
theory
is.
Sarris
proposed
that
directors
must
demonstrate
technical
expertise,
have
a
stylistic
signature
that
is
visible
over
the
course
of
several
films
and,
through
his
or
her
choice
of
projects
and
cinematic
treatment,
show
a
consistency
of
vision
and
interior
meaning.
The auteur theory contradicts the traditional exhibitionist role of women described by Laura Mulvey (1975), that in the sexually imbalanced world, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. Mulvey said, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to
connote to-be-looked-at-ness. What I think from Mulveys description of traditional representation of women is they cannot be as strong as men. They cannot express their thoughts actively and thoroughly. But directing is always a tough job, as director is the master of the whole filmmaking process and he/she is the boss when the whole production team goes on shoot. Thus, a director must be tough, strong and maybe masculine, so he/she can build up the prestige and pubic reliance to control all the things happening on set. I observe that quite a lot of women directors try to build up a masculine image on public occasions or on the cover pages of magazines and online articles, like Jennifer Yuh on magazine cover The Hollywood Reporter.
Angelina
Jolie
(Left)
and
Kung
Fu
Panda
2
director
Jennifer
Yuh
Nelson
(Right)
on
the
magazine
cover
of
The
Hollywood
Reporter,
16
December
2011
I notice that women directors quite like to wear suits in formal occasions like award ceremonies. And they do not act like celebrities, like directors Heiward Mak and Ann Hui.
Left: Director Heiward Mak at the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2010
Right: Director Ann Hui received the HKU 100 Mooncake from Professor Kam Louie, Dean of Arts
When
they
are
on
shoot,
like
Ivy
Ho
and
Carol
Lai,
they
like
unisex
clothing
rather
than
feminine
clothes.
I
believe
this
kind
of
unfeminine
dressing
helps
women
directors
build
up
a
tough
image.
The
style
of
how
women
work
is
another
reason
of
why
there
are
not
many
women
working
in
the
film
industry.
Chan
(2005)
shared
her
experience
in
her
article
about
the
time
she
worked
on
a
script
of
a
film.
I
have
been
warned
never
to
write
a
script
abstract
clearly
or
in
too
much
detail
because
the
bosses
would
never
buy
it.
Though
the
talking
script
prevails
for
popular
productions,
women
in
general
tend
to
avoid
profanity
and
racy
language
and
thus
are
at
a
disadvantage
when
they
have
to
make
their
talk-show
performance
appealing.
As
a
result,
the
talking
script
has
been
practiced
within
a
male-dominated
industry,
and
this
has
enhanced
the
traditional
closeness
among
producer,
director,
scriptwriter
and
editor.
While women scriptwriters like Chan may write abstract scripts, Chan knows many men may not really like this. She said, one director admitted he was addicted to rushed filmmaking, and he disliked the careful and slow pre- production work that, he claimed, would drain his creativity. Gradually this kind of rushed filmmaking becomes a cooperative work ethic in the film industry. Chan concludes that this method is used to tackle the urgent demands of the market have led to failures in building up an infrastructure of professionalism in Hong Kong cinema, and this is not because of shortsightedness. All the facts discussed above give an idea of why women directors are more likely to be independent directors and not commercial directors. Wood (1990) said that women could currently get more recognition for their work as directors in film. But we can see from statistics mentioned at the beginning of the essay on employment that the percentage of women workers is still much less than that of men workers. Chan is a Hong Kong scriptwriter. Even though she is not a director, she also has to downplay her femininity when discussing stories and plots with filmmakers so as to adapt to the traditional practice of talking script. She mentioned one director said his creativity would be disturbed if he were to discuss story plots with women, because he would constantly be worried about using vulgar
language. Here are some Hong Kong women directors, Aubrey Lam and Barbara Wong talking about their role in their interviews:
Director
Aubrey
Lam
I
think
its
an
advantage
because
its
rare.
When
people
think
oh,
female
directors,
we
have
less
than
5,
you
get
all
the
attention
and
the
people
are
more
lenient
to
us
women.
Well,
it
can
be
a
sad
thing,
but
I
dont
care.
You
have
got
advantage
because
people
think
you
are
weak
so
they
dont
push
us
too
much
(laughter).
Ah,
its
quite
funny
(Aubrey
Lam
in
Francois
2003)
Director
Barbara
Wong
()
There
are
two
factors
that
you
have
to
consider
as
a
woman
director:
first
you
need
a
very
clear
idea
of
how
you
want
to
shoot
the
scene
when
you
step
onto
the
set.
If
you
hesitate
for
a
second,
the
crew
goes,
I
told
you!
Shes
just
a
woman!
She
cant
think
it
through!
the
other
thing
is
that
a
woman
cant
cry
on
set.
If
you
cry,
the
crew
says,
I
told
you
women
are
incompetent!
Just
go
home
and
make
dinner.
You
cant
deal
with
pressure!
(Barbara
Wong
in
Lee
2008)
Ann Hui began feature filmmaking in 1979, the Hong Kong film industry was a male-dominated enterprise. This remains the case today.
Director
Ann
Hui
Erens (2000) talks about Huis directing style, which is quite different from Hollywood filmmaking tradition. Hui likes using flashbacks and voiceover to tell a story. Besides, Hui tends to blur the boundaries and turning political overtones into personal statements. Audiences must be attentive to details, willing to make their own connections, or willing to remain confused. According to what Erens describes, The Secrets (1979) blends a modern story involving love, jealousy, unwed pregnancy, and contemporary, forensic medicine with an ancient tale of ghosts, superstition, and Chinese ritual. This approach is further complicated and different from the traditions in Hong Kong commercial filmmaking. This kind of directing style is more likely to be that of independent directors. Ann Huis point of view of being unfeminine is her advantage in the industry does not just appear in Erenss article (2000), but also in Chans article (2005). A woman who can free herself from typical feminine characteristics can also free her male co-workers from giving her extra consideration by making them see her as an androgynous colleague. This helps Hui to build up prestige as a director on set. Women directors do not seem like to make feminist films. Erens talks about Huis film in his article. Hui actually likes to make films that are about unconcerned or rare issues in society. At the beginning of Huis career, she had focused on the lives of characters who exiles in a foreign land. Like the films Boy From Vietnam (1978), The Story of Woo Viet (1981) and Boat People (1982) are Huis Vietnamese trilogy. They are the stories of Vietnamese refugees. Huis style used to be more focused on cinematic language and fragmented narrative structures. But Boat People is the film that Hui tried to shift away from experimentation to a straightforward narrative form, which is closer to mainstream work. So Hui tries not to be excluded from much mainstream work because she is a female director. Even Hui said in Perkss article (2009), that she would want to be known as a director, not a woman director, since being a director allows her to work along with boys, especially when she has to direct action films. The unfeminine character of Hui allows her to be fully capable of
directing action sequences. Peter Nellhaus, a New York-based film writer and Asian cinema buff said in AWFJ in 2009, I think Hong Kong has a better track record in terms of proportion of women that are active as writers and directors, as well as in recognizing their work with awards. But still, the film industry remains male-dominant. This phenomenon appears not just in Hong Kong cinema, but also in many cinemas around the world. Does new feminism help? New feminism may help women to be directors in the film industry, but what women directors try to be are fully capable of working with men, create their own directing styles and making their own feature films, but not expressing feminist ideology in films. Bibliography: Books: Chan Yeeshan (2005) Bringing Breasts into the Mainstream. In: Edited by Pang, Laikwan and Wong, Day (2005) Masculinities and Hong Kong cinema. Hong Kong University Press, pp.177-197 Erens, Patricia (2000) The Film Work of Ann Hui. In: Edited by Fu, Poskek and Dresser, David (2000) The cinema of Hong Kong: history, arts, identity. Cambridge University Press, pp.176-195 Mulvey, Laura (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.In: Mulvey, Laura (2009) Visual and Other Pleasures. Palgrave Macmillan, pp.14-27 Tseelon, E. (1995) Masking the Self: The Lady is a Fake. In: Tseelon, E. (1995) The Masque of Femininity: the presentation of woman in everyday life. London Sage, pp.33-41 Thornham, S. (2007) After 1990: Post-Feminism and Its Others. In: Thornham, S. (2007) Women, Feminism and Media. Edinburgh UP, Edinburgh, pp.15-20 Walter, N. (1999) What is the new feminism? In: Walter, N. (1999) The New Feminism. London Virago, pp.1-9 Wong, Day (2005) Womens Reception of Mainstream Hong Kong cinema. In: Edited by Pang, Laikwan and Wong, Day (2005) Masculinities and Hong Kong cinema. Hong Kong University Press, pp.239-261
Wood, Robin (1990) Images and Women. In: Erens, Patricia (1990) Issues in feminist film criticism. Indiana University Press, pp.341-344 Journals: Perks, S. (2009) Visible secrets: Hong Kongs women film-makers. Film International (16516826), 7 (4), pp.4 8-56, Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost, [Accessed 15 March 2012] Willis, A. (2009) Hong Kong cinema since 1997: troughs and peaks. Film International (16516826), 7 (4), pp. 6-17, Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost, [Accessed 15 March 2012] Online articles: Ford, Rebecca (2012) Fewer Female Directors Worked on Top Films in 2011. The Hollywood Reporter, January, available at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/women-directors-film-study- 284321 [Accessed 15 March 2012] Francois (2003) Interview Aubrey Lam. Chinemasie, October, available at: http://www.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/dossier/54/ [Accessed 17 March 2012] Granger, Susan (2009) AWFJ Women On Film Hong Kong Film Industry: Focus on Women Katey Rich reports. AWFJ Women On Film, available at: http://awfj.org/2009/03/30/2953/ [Accessed 18 March 2012] Lee, Edmund (2008) Wong Chun-chun: The accidental feminist. Timeout: Hong Kong, available at: http://www.timeout.com.hk/film/features/11675/wong- chun-chun-the-accidental-feminist.html [Accessed 17 March 2012] Rock, Michael (1996) What does it really mean to call for a graphic designer to be an author? Eye 20 Spring, available at: http://eye- magazine.co.uk/feature.php?id=30&fid=258 [Accessed 17 March 2012] Silverstein, Melissa (2011) Hollywood Reporter Acknowledges That The Industry is Sexist. Indiewire, December, available at: http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/hollywood-reporter- acknowledges-that-the-industry-is-sexist [Accessed 17 March 2012] Silverstein, Melissa (2012) What Bigelow Effect? Number of Women Directors in Hollywood Falls to 5 Percent. Indiewire, January, available at: http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/what-bigelow-effect-number- of-women-directors-in-hollywood-falls-to-5-percent [Accessed on 15 March 2012] Illustrations: Unknown photographer (unknown year) Interview Carol Lai [photograph]. In: Ciemasie[online]. Available from: http://www.cinemasie.com/en/fiche/dossier/49/
Unknown photographer (unknown year) Hong Kong female directors speak out [photograph]. In: CNNGo[online]. Available from: http://www.cnngo.com/hong- kong/none/chat-hong-kongs-female-directors-661577 Unknown photographer (unknown year) Hong Kong Film Development Council [photograph]. In: Hong Kong Film Development Council [online]. Available from: http://www.fdc.gov.hk/NewAction/director/en/index.html Unknown photographer (unknown year) Dreamers No Truth or Dare interview with Barbara Wong Chun-chun In: Youth.com.hk [online]. Available from: http://www.youth.gov.hk/en/culturehub/moving_images/movie/dreamers/bar barawong.htm Unknown photographer (unknown year) Hollywood Reporter December 16, 2011 In: The Hollywood Reporter [online]. Available from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/magazine/december-16-2011 Unknown photographer (unknown year) Pung-leung Kwun talks about Ann Hui (2) In: CEDB [online]. Available from: http://www.iatopia.com/CEDB/magsearch.jsp?artid=15201 Unknown photographer (unknown year) Ann Hui in Hong Kong Cinema in the Context of Globalization In: Hong Kong University [online]. Available from: http://arts.hku.hk/UAS/album/20090930_ann/ Websites: Ann Hui (2012) Wikipedia [online]. 11 February. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Hui [Accessed 31 March 2012]