Documentary as Alternative Practice: Situating Contemporary Female Filmmakers in Sinophone Cinemas by Novia Shih-Shan Chen M.F.A., Ohio University, 2008 B.F.A., National Taiwan University, 2003 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Novia Shih-Shan Chen 2021 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY SUMMER 2021 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Declaration of Committee Name: Novia Shih-Shan Chen Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Thesis title: Documentary as Alternative Practice: Situating Contemporary Female Filmmakers in Sinophone Cinemas Committee: Chair: Jen Marchbank Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Helen Hok-Sze Leung Supervisor Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Zoë Druick Committee Member Professor, School of Communication Lara Campbell Committee Member Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Christine Kim Examiner Associate Professor, Department of English The University of British Columbia Gina Marchetti External Examiner Professor, Department of Comparative Literature The University of Hong Kong ii Abstract Women’s documentary filmmaking in Sinophone cinemas has been marginalized in the film industry and understudied in film studies scholarship. The convergence of neoliberalism, institutionalization of pan-Chinese documentary films and the historical marginalization of women’s filmmaking in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), respectively, have further perpetuated the marginalization of documentary films by local female filmmakers. The orientalizing gaze from the global north does not take into account local women’s struggle in the industry whereas the local male-dominant industry in each region is strongly tied to and upheld by different discourses of nationalism. By addressing multiple layers of hegemony, my research examines the local and global impact on female documentary filmmakers in the above three regions since the 1980s and the ways in which they adjust their modes of production while continuing in their works to resist dominant ideologies that have shaped mainstream national/regional film culture. Drawing from production studies and feminist film criticism, I point out that each production trajectory reflects changing political systems, institutions and resources available over time. Female documentary filmmakers’ interpretative and communicative power have rewritten the traditionally male-dominant and neo-national narratives of film history and industry. Since the 1980s, Taiwanese female documentary filmmakers have carved out alternative representations during a time when defining the meaning of a national cinema was an urgent task. Hong Kong female documentarians share a consistently radical and humanistic concern regarding gender and ethnic diversity without resorting to political or cultural essentialism or antagonism. Documentary films by women in the PRC expose the incongruence between the state’s agenda and the lived reality of Chinese women. Sinophone female documentarians’ radical resistance does not only reside in their works but in their filmmaking practices, which foreground the periphery as the site in which place-based and community-based stories and identities are shaped and told. Keywords: Sinophone; documentary film; production studies; women’s cinema iii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family: my partner; my parents in Taiwan; my brother and his family in Taiwan; my parents-in-law in Japan; and Akira, my child. Thank you for your tremendous love and support throughout my study and for making me who I am today. iv Acknowledgements I would like to express my deep appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Helen Hok- Sze Leung, for the continuous support of my doctoral study and for her careful guidance, genuine encouragement, and immense knowledge. I would also like to thank my committee members—Dr. Zoë Druick and Dr. Lara Campbell—for their insightful comments and critiques of my research. My gratitude extends to the faculty and staff members at the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the Simon Fraser University for their work and support in helping me keep up with my research. I would also like to thank Moninder Laili, Liaison Librarian at the Simon Fraser University Library and my friends, Carmen Hung and Chia-Wei Lin, for obtaining important primary sources for my research. My deep appreciation further goes out to my friends—Yiwen Liu, Atsumi Nakao, Josh Trichilo, and Ayaka Yoshimizu—who have constantly offered their care, motivation, and inspiration as I accomplished my personal goals. Finally, I could not have completed this dissertation without my partner, Sho Ogawa. Thank you for your unwavering support and belief in me and for being the greatest person in my life. v Table of Contents Declaration of Committee ..................................................................................................ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................iii Dedication .........................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ v Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................vi Glossary ...........................................................................................................................vii 1. Introduction… ..........................................................................................................1 2. From ‘Chinese’ to Sinophone ...............................................................................13 3. Approaching Documentary Production Culture: Theoretical Roots and Routes …………………………………………………………………………………..31 4. Voices of the Margin: Taiwan as the Island of Symbiosis ..................................66 5. Diverse Styles and Approaches: Hong Kong as a City of Experiment .............96 6. Gender, Place, and Migration: Postsocialist Chinese Female Documentarians and Their Subjects .....................................................................................128 7. Documentary as Alternative Practice: Parallels and Heterogeneity ...............165 Appendix A. A List of Documentary Female Filmmakers and The Filmography ...............178 vi Glossary This glossary consists of the romanizations of the list Sinophone (huayu) names and phrases that appear in this dissertation. I stick to the titles that the referred filmmakers are popularly known of in the industry. When translations are necessary, I use Wade- Giles for Taiwanese names, Jyutping for Cantonese names and Hanyu Pinyin for Chinese names. Ai Xiaoming (b. 1953) 臕䧳ก Ang Lee (b. 1954) 磷ਞ Angie Chen (b. 1949) 檔ਞባ Ann Hui (b. 1947) 战ᶗ苉 Annette Lu (Lu Hsiu-lien, b. 1944) 㸎纨荳 Anson Mak (b. 1969) 變ၹ納 bai gong tu ጯૡ瑽 Barbara Wong Chun Chun (b. 1972) 讙፥፥ 稧ڃChen Kaige (b.1952) ᴯ Chen Yao-Chi (b. 1938) 檔聱࣌ Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) 莟ՕᎪ Chien Wei-suu (b. 1962) 墋狰ේ ching shan chun hsiao 覇ઊช䧳 ূظDong Kena (1930–) 茙 Edward Yang (1947–2007) 䮉盓฀ Ellen Pau (b. 1961) 湹葂㮖 Fan Lixin (b. 1977) 舰缏ོ طܖDeng Nan-Guan (1907–1971) 曋 Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) 曋ੜଘ Dominica Siu King Lo (1952–2020) 菕ว᪠ Esther Eng (1914–1970) շ梁襦 vii Fruit Chan (b. 1959) 檔ຎ Guo Jianmei ᮳ୌ໶ guoyu 㾴承 Hakka ਮ疑 Herman Yau Lai-to (b. 1960) ᮕ因倌 Hoho Liu (b. 1976) 㴤舀ݸ Hokkien ᐰୌ Hou De-chien 狆盓ୌ Hou Hsiao-Hsien (b. 1947) 狆疃搙 Hu Tai-li (b. 1950) 胪ݣ讀 huayu dianying 苉承襎୽ Huang Shuqin (b. 1939) 讙ᢪ舁 Hwang Chun-Ming (b. 1935) 讙ชก Hwang Yu-Shan (b. 1954) 讙ሳ納 Jevons Ou (b. 1981) 稨෈猈 Ji Dan (b. 1963) 疄Ԅ Jia Zhangke (b. 1970) 揿ཛິ Ju Ming ๟柵 Hu Mei (b. 1958) 胪紉 珸෈玕Ԫ禂ط KuanChi Cultural Group Kuomingtang/KMT Ӿ㾴㾴࿆焬 Lai Linda Chiu-han 讝肻䉭 Li Hong (b. 1967) 磷ᕁ Li Yu (b. 1973) 磷ሳ Li Shaohong (b. 1955) 磷੝ᕁ Lina Yang (b. 1972) ๷艪ᰧ viii Liu Bi-Chia 㴤஠组 Liu Chia-Chang 㴤疑฀ 舏舏ڝ (Liu Miaomiao (b. 1962 Liu Na-Ou (1900–1940) 㴤珃譕 Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) 㴤䧳ူ Lou Ye (b. 1965) 贉ᅺ ෈ףMa Liwen (b. 1971) Ḙ Mao Zedong (1983–1976) ྷ俘䩚 May Fung Mei-wah 泹聅苉 Minhsin Communications Company ࿆ஞ୽憙獍ݪ Minnanese 樢ܖ承/樢ܖ扖/樢ܖՈ Ning Ying (b. 1959) ਘ筹 Qing dynasty 竃๖ Peggy Chiao (b. 1953) ᆌᵜ੽ Peng Xiaolien (1953–2019) ୻ੜឰ putonghua ฦ蝢扖 Sha Qing ဉ覇 Stanley Kwan (b. 1957) 橕梁瀍 Su Chiu 葍纩 Sylvia Chang (b. 1953) 皰臕ࡱ Tammy Cheung (b. 1958) 皰ᡭ Tang Danhong (b. 1965) ࠈԄỚ Tang Shu-Shuen (b. 1941) ࠈ䨗ች The Story of Liubao Village ື璬ጱ硲Ԫ Tian Zhuangzhuang (b. 1952) ኦौौ Tiananmen Square Incident ॠਞ槹皞䁰Ԫկ ix Tsai Ming-liang (b. 1957) 莞ก犝 ظTsui Hark (b. 1950) எ Wang Haowei (b. 1940) ሴঅԅ Wang Hsiao-di (b. 1953) ሴੜ祘 Wang Xiaoshuai (b. 1966) ሴੜ૳ Wang Ping (1916–90) ሴ舩 Wang Shaoyan (1923–2018) ሴ੝ટ White Terror ጮᜋ盳ோ ط෈ޓ (Wu Wengguang (b. 1956 Wu Yii-Feng (b. 1960) 珂Ԛ痷 Wong Kar-wai (b. 1956) ሴ疑蔫 Xinjiang 碝ዅ Xu Jinglei (b. 1974) எ鋷菠 Yau Ching ჋覌 Zero Chou (b. 1969) 珏聅紋 Zhang Nuanxin (1941–1995) ୟำஹ Zhang Yimou (b. 1950) ୟᜏ᧪ زZhang Yuan (b. 1963) ୟ Zhongguo dianying Ӿ㾴襎୽ Zhou Duo 珏膧 zhuantipian 䌕氂粙 x 1. Introduction In 2006, CNEX a non-profit organization, was founded to promote and support Chinese documentary films on an institutional scale. It currently has offices