Bigelow boost for women directors

Peng Xiaolian (center) on a film-shooting site. (Shanghai Daily Photo)

At the recent 82nd Academy Awards, film maker Kathryn Bigelow made history winning a Best Director Oscar for her Iraqi war drama "The Hurt Locker." She was the first woman to win the honor.

For every talented and hardworking female director, the most exciting part of the news was not that this modestly budgeted film dominated the Oscars by earning six Academy Awards, but Bigelow's assault on the last bastion of male domination in films.

Before her achievement, only three women had earned a nomination in this category - Lina Wertmuller for "Seven Beauties" in 1975, Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1993, and Sofia Coppola for "Lost in Translation" in 2003.

"Bigelow's win let the whole world see the power and explosive strength of women directors," says Li Ying, a female documentary film maker from the local Documentary Channel who journeyed to the dangerous regions of Somalia to make a documentary on Somali pirates.

"Her success will encourage many young women to pursue their film-making dreams and break into the boys' club," she adds.

Today, women directors are a rarity both in Hollywood and in the domestic film/TV industry. People can name only a few influential Chinese women directors, such as Hu Mei, Li Shaohong, Ann Hui and Peng Xiaolian.

Li says women still face bias in this part of the industry. A lot of people are likely to question their ability to work under harsh conditions and depict major issues such as history, war and the economy.

"At first when I stood in front of my team, I could read suspicion in their eyes," Li recalls. "As a woman director, you have to make more effort to win their trust and prove that you're not just a frail and sensitive girl."

Unlike her peers, the 29-year-old has had rare experiences such as 10 days on a French warship off Somalia and a lengthy working and living experience in a remote village in Yunnan Province.

In her eyes, an excellent female director should have both good execution and communication abilities. But it doesn't mean that she has to appear tough and undaunted like male directors.

In her leisure time, Li is also seeking for chances to refresh her knowledge in the fields that women usually don't have much interest in, such as politics, economy and history.

"My advice to all of my women colleagues is to make good use of women's prominent advantages in communication, carefulness and perseverance and never forget to improve their ability to think logically," Li says.
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