Women Filmmakers: Ann Hui

Abstract

The career of film director Ann Hui highlights the importance of stories told from a woman's perspective to the development of the Hong Kong New Wave beginning in 1979. Part of broader trends that opened doors to women and other emerging voices in the region, Hui's global recognition in film festivals, her popular appeal within the region and throughout the Chinese diaspora, as well as the more recent international recognition of her films are central to the growth of the movie industry in Asia. Hui's regional and global significance also exemplifies Hong Kong's local film culture during a period of enormous change. Although not the only Hong Kong woman director to emerge as a significant figure in world cinema, the length of Hui's career and the scores of accolades she has garnered in the Asian region and at European film festivals makes her stand out. Moreover, she tends to focus on women‐centered narratives within an industry known for male‐defined martial arts and heroic bloodshed films. Her career underscores the difficulties of negotiating gender politics in Chinese‐language cinema, the significance of social justice movements to the new wave, the appeal of border‐crossing stories about mainland women, and Hong Kong's contribution to global film aesthetics through cinematic techniques that capture the nuances of characters' subjectivities.