People pushed to move, or left without anywhere to belong, through no fault of their own form the through-line of this year’s Women’s Empowerment section at the Tokyo International Film Festival, according to programmer Shimizu Yu, who also oversees the festival’s Youth strand.
Now in its third year, the seven-film section includes Manuela Martelli’s “The Meltdown,” Anuparna Roy’s “Lovers in the Blue Night,” Zou Jing’s “A Girl Unknown” and Isabelle Stever’s “I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming.” Also selected are 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 tells 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.”
Shimizu is realistic about what a three-year-old program can achieve. Women’s standing has improved so little over the long sweep of human history that addressing structural problems in such a short window is extremely difficult, she says, adding that 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,” 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 is putting real effort into events that run alongside the screenings, and plans to grow the section in the coming years by 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,” Shimizu says.
One of those events, “Her Gaze,” this year turns to women cinematographers from Japan and Taiwan. It is overseen by Kondo Kanako, the section’s event producer, who 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. Festivals, Kondo argues, can lift up women working in a range of positions behind the camera, and not just 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 own perspective comes entirely from screening practice, counts that hands-on knowledge of filmmaking as one of the section’s strengths.
Shimizu has also programmed experimental cinema at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where the work included collaborating with DINAMO, an international network of experimental film distributors and archives. That experience continues to shape her approach to 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.”
On the youth side, the TIFF Teens filmmaking workshop marks its 10th anniversary this year. Shimizu notes 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 picked 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 possibility in something 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 events designed to give the films context.
“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.”