Tokyo Film Festival's Women's Empowerment Section Turns to Those Who Fall Through the Cracks

The Tokyo International Film Festival's Women's Empowerment section opens its third edition with seven films by women directors, including Manuela Martelli's "The Meltdown" and Anuparna Roy's "Lovers in the Blue Night." Programmer Shimizu Yu, who also oversees the festival's Youth strand, has built the lineup around people displaced by forces beyond their control.

The full selection spans four continents: Zou Jing's "A Girl Unknown," Isabelle Stever's "I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming," Meritxell Colell Aparicio's "Far From the Trees," Yang Kaijing's "Super Lucky Girl" and Muriel d'Ansembourg's "Truly Naked.

"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," Shimizu told Variety. "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."

What can a three-year-old program achieve?

Shimizu is candid about the limits. Women's standing, she says, has improved so little over the long sweep of human history that addressing structural problems in a short window is extremely difficult. Filmmaking is hard for anyone, she adds, 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," Shimizu says. "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."

The team plans to expand the section in coming years by moving into areas TIFF has not explored before, and it is investing in events alongside the screenings. "As a film festival, I believe we must more actively question our role and significance in society as an organization," Shimizu says.

'Her Gaze' turns to women cinematographers

One of those events, "Her Gaze," spotlights women cinematographers from Japan and Taiwan. Event producer Kondo Kanako oversees it. Last year she focused on women's film festivals in East Asia and has been seeking ways to build solidarity among women filmmakers across the region. Festivals, she argues, can lift women working in a range of positions 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," Kondo says. "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, and she still works in film production staff management. Shimizu, whose perspective comes from screening practice, counts that hands-on knowledge among the section's strengths.

Shimizu has also programmed experimental cinema at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, collaborating with DINAMO, an international network of experimental film distributors and archives. That work still shapes her handling of archival material.

"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," Shimizu says. "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."

Youth section marks a workshop anniversary

On the youth side, the TIFF Teens filmmaking workshop marks its 10th anniversary this year. Shimizu observes that everyone carries a different idea of what cinema is, and that films made with a theater in mind are becoming unfamiliar to many.

The three titles in this year's Youth section — Jacqueline Lentzou's "A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra," María Aparicio's "Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Rebellion" and Lorenzo Ferro and Lucas A. Vignale's "The River Train" — were chosen 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," Shimizu says.

She sees value in what 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." Like Women's Empowerment, the Youth section runs its own slate of contextual events.

"Our goal is for each individual audience member to experience a richer moment through cinema," Shimizu says. "And perhaps, as a result, some of them may go on to work in the world of film."