Seven films in the third-year Women’s Empowerment section at TIFF

Marcus Bennett

Seven films form the third-year Women’s Empowerment section at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Programmer Shimizu Yu, who also oversees the festival’s Youth strand, selected them around people pushed to move or left without a place to belong through no fault of their own.

The selection:

• Manuela Martelli, “The Meltdown”
• Anuparna Roy, “Lovers in the Blue Night”
• Zou Jing, “A Girl Unknown”
• Isabelle Stever, “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming”
• Meritxell Colell Aparicio, “Far From the Trees”
• Yang Kaijing, “Super Lucky Girl”
• Muriel d’Ansembourg, “Truly Naked”

A program about structural displacement

Shimizu describes the films as portraits of people caught in unstable political climates and social systems. The pressure comes from contradictions that can threaten their dignity.

“The films depict those who fall through the cracks of an unstable political climate or social systems – those who are struck head-on by structural contradictions, and at times exposed to crises that threaten their very dignity.”

She believes audiences may recognize their own lives in these detailed depictions.

“These scenes painfully strike a chord, yet I also believe there are audiences who will find their own existence affirmed through these authentic and detailed depictions of people and events as they are.”

Shimizu remains realistic about what a three-year-old program can achieve. Women’s standing has improved so little over the long sweep of human history, she says, that addressing structural problems in such a short window is extremely difficult. Filmmaking is hard for anyone, and harder still for women.

“And yet, it is from the fact that remarkable works by women continue to be made that we draw our courage.”

“Precisely because this is a thematic section, I am committed to selecting films on their own merits. It is a small section, but I believe that the very scale of the challenges means there is still much we can do, and that there remains untapped potential here.”

Shimizu says the team is putting real effort into events alongside the screenings. She plans to grow the section in coming years, moving into areas TIFF has not explored before.

“As a film festival, I believe we must more actively question our role and significance in society as an organization.”

What does Her Gaze change for women working in film?

This year, “Her Gaze” focuses on women cinematographers from Japan and Taiwan. Kondo Kanako, the event producer, last year spotlighted women’s film festivals in East Asia and has been looking for ways to build solidarity among women filmmakers across the region.

Kondo says festivals can support women in many roles behind the camera, not only directors.

“In Japan, technical roles in film have historically been dominated by men as a kind of exclusive profession, and one could argue that becoming a cinematographer is even harder than becoming a director.”

“Now that technological advances have brought more women confidently carrying lighter cameras, I felt it was important to celebrate the pioneers of Japan and Taiwan.”

Kondo’s background includes assistant directing. She still works in film production staff management. Shimizu’s perspective comes entirely from screening practice. She counts the section’s hands-on knowledge of filmmaking as one of its strengths.

Shimizu has programmed experimental cinema at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Her work there included collaboration with DINAMO, an international network of experimental film distributors and archives. That experience still shapes her approach to archival material.

Shimizu frames that resistance through the history of the gaze.

“Women have long been treated as objects of the gaze within cinema, and I believe experimental film carries within it a resistance to being consumed simply through being watched.”

“Many women filmmakers are highly conscious of this, and work that rises to the challenge with an awareness of the great history of film is always one of the key criteria I prioritize in selecting films.”

The case for cinema

The TIFF Teens filmmaking workshop marks its 10th anniversary this year. Shimizu says everyone carries a different idea of cinema, and films made with a theater in mind have become unfamiliar to many.

The three titles in the Youth section:

• Jacqueline Lentzou, “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra”
• María Aparicio, “Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Rebellion”
• Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale, “The River Train”

Shimizu chose them to make audiences rethink the medium.

“Moving images have become more familiar and abundant than ever, but I believe these three are works that can only truly be received in cinemas.”

She sees a possibility that a regular theatrical release cannot offer: the chance at a festival to encounter “not only what you set out to see, but also the surprising, and at times the irregular.” Shimizu says the Youth section runs its own events designed to give the films context.

“Our goal is for each individual audience member to experience a richer moment through cinema.”

“And perhaps, as a result, some of them may go on to work in the world of film.”

As TIFF expands, the practical measure will be whether its events can build sustained support for women working across film.