China's Women Directors Deliver $118M Box Office Wave, and Parallax Is Buying

Films by women directors grossed more than RMB845 million ($118 million) at China's domestic box office in 2024 alone — and sales agent Parallax Films is now shopping new titles from three of the directors behind that boom at the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) in Busan.

The lineup includes new work from Shao Yihui, Yang Lina and Yin Lichuan, three filmmakers at the forefront of China's women-led cinema surge.

Shao's short "Winning at Sleep" turns her satirical eye on meritocracy and the culture of constant competition. The story centers on an everyday girl who receives an unlikely shot at glory through an unusual contest.

What are the new films about?

• "It's OK" reteams Yang Lina with Golden Horse winner Wen Qi ("Angels Wear White," "The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful"). Wen plays a young teacher managing an urgent health crisis and the unspoken connection with her traditional mother. The dramedy takes on womanhood and a woman's control over her own body.
• "A Joke" by veteran director Yin Lichuan is billed as the first Chinese feature to tackle workplace sexual harassment. It follows a sanitation worker who spends three years collecting proof against her abusive boss, then joins forces with a young lawyer to expose him.
• "Winning at Sleep" — Shao's satire of meritocracy and nonstop competition.

How did the boom begin?

The wave started in 2021 with Shao's breakout "B for Busy," which opened the door for female-centered stories in China. Three years later, Yin's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Shao's second feature "Her Story" grossed more than RMB845 million ($118 million) combined domestically.

"Her Story" then won best picture, best actress and best supporting actress at the 38th Golden Rooster Awards, mainland China's government-backed film honors. Films by women directors have historically won few opportunities at those awards, making the haul a landmark for feminist filmmaking in the country.

On the festival circuit, Luka Yuanyuan Yang's documentary hybrid "Chinatown Cha-Cha" found similar success.

Who is driving the change?

Parallax credits a young female audience with growing clout for proving that films about gender roles, relationships and social pressure can pull in big numbers. Investors, studios and producers have since backed a broader range of women-led projects.

A generation of female directors now works across both commercial and indie filmmaking, chasing box office and festival prestige at once. Alongside Shao and Yin, the group includes Yang ("Spring Tide," "Song of Spring"), Teng Congcong ("Send Me to the Clouds," series "To the Wonder") and Vivian Qu ("Angels Wear White," "Girls on Wire").

What else is on the Parallax slate?

The company's short film lineup features:

• "Our Secrets," which took the Lights On Women's Worth Award at Cannes' La Cinef
• "Scorching," "Thirteenth Night" and "Fishtank," fantasy-driven portraits of their characters' interior lives
• "Orlo With Karma," a Tibetan coming-of-age romance from Kangdrun, director of "Linka Linka"

"Linka Linka," which won the Firebird and Fipresci prizes at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, explores urban Tibetan youth culture today. "100 Sunset" looks at the Tibetan diaspora in Canada. Anuparna Roy's "Lovers in the Blue Night" won the Netpac Award at Venice.

Documentary and hybrid titles about identity and family include "Masayume," Visions du Réel winner "From Dawn to Dawn" and docufiction "Shanghai Daughter." "Now I Met Her" and "Embers" sit at the commercial end of the slate.

Parallax has recently closed theatrical and digital deals across Europe, North America and Asia. "Linka Linka" has drawn strong distributor interest, and "Masayume" is set for a North American release in spring 2027 — a marker of how far the women-led titles and the rest of the slate have already traveled beyond China.