Desiree Lim
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Desiree Lim (born 1971) is a Malaysian-born Canadian independent film director, producer, and screenwriter. She is known for her films ''Sugar Sweet'' (2001), ''Floored by Love'' (2005), and ''The House'' (2011). Lim tends to work within the realm of family drama and comedy, and highlights themes of lesbianism, multiculturalism, and body positivity. She now works in Canada and Japan.


Early life and education

Born in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 1971, Lim grew up speaking
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
and
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. Her parents are Chinese and had moved to her birthplace from mainland China and Hong Kong. In school, she became a skilled kendo practitioner. Upon graduating from high school, she moved to
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
to study at
Sophia University Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...
, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. After finishing university, she began working on news and documentary films with the broadcasting company Asahi Broadcasting Network in Tokyo as an associate producer and director. She did not move back to Malaysia after her education, due to the lack of freedom of the press there.


Career

Lim made her first independent short film, ''Closet is for Clothes'', in Tokyo, where it was shown at the 1995 Tokyo Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. This festival provided Lim with the opportunity to jump-start her career, as she received an award for her film. This was the beginning of her career as an independent filmmaker. Six years later she created her first feature-length film, ''Sugar Sweet'', in which she described her coming out as a queer filmmaker. Following the release of this film, she moved to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada, having been frustrated by the production company's marketing of ''Sugar Sweet'' and inspired by the positive reaction it received in North America, particularly by Vancouver's artistic community. Her films have been highly successful at
film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
s, where showings have frequently sold out. Her latest film, a psychological thriller set in Vancouver and featuring Vancouver actors, called ''The House'' (2011), received the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2012
Female Eye Film Festival The Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) is a competitive international film festival established in 2001. It is Toronto’s only international film festival geared specifically for women directors. History In 2001, Female Eye Film Festival was est ...
.


Notable films


''Sugar Sweet'' (2001)

Perhaps Lim's most popular work, ''Sugar Sweet'' is an erotic comedy that plays with the straight male ideas of what lesbian porn looks like. It is the first erotic film in Japan that was both made for and by queer women. Starring Saori Kitagawa as Naomi, this film follows the story of a lesbian filmmaker who is hired by a straight porn company to create authentic lesbian films, only to have them deemed "too artistic". She is instructed to take a more conventional pornographic route. The film takes on techniques such as the full–body shot and blur to appeal to the "lesbian gaze" rather than the
male gaze In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heteros ...
. ''Sugar Sweet'' was originally released in Japan and was meant to be marketed as having been created by a queer woman for other queer women. Despite this, advertising for the film switched to target heterosexual men, using fetishistic images of lesbians, as there was thought to be a bigger market for the film in this demographic. The film was well-received in North America, where screenings of up to 600 people were sold out. It was shown in various cities with prolific queer film festivals, and was also featured in over 50 film festivals in North America. The marketing gimmicks and the film's success in North America were both significant factors in Lim's decision to move to Vancouver in 2002.


''Floored By Love'' (2005)

This work by Lim was a part of the ''Eight Stories About Love'' series on the Canadian television network Citytv. A comedic family drama, it tells the story of a multicultural queer relationship between two women, and the issues they face when the parents of the protagonist, Cara, visit, and later when they come out as a couple. Written after the legalization of same-sex marriage, it deals with issues of marriage, Asian diaspora, gender performance, and coming out.


''The House'' (2011)

''The House'' is inspired by former Wall Street worker Nomi Prins, who exposed the fraudulence and failings of Wall Street. It looks at how working in the world of Wall Street has affected the protagonist, a woman named Jean. It is a cross-genre of drama, thriller, and the paranormal, as Jean must go on a journey of self-discovery. Upon quitting her high-level investment job, a friend lends her an empty house in Vancouver, where she encounters and interacts with the spirits who inhabit there. ''The House'' won Best Screenwriting and Best Performance at the Vancouver Women in Film Festival and was awarded Best Canadian Feature at the
Female Eye Film Festival The Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) is a competitive international film festival established in 2001. It is Toronto’s only international film festival geared specifically for women directors. History In 2001, Female Eye Film Festival was est ...
.


Inspiration

From birth, Lim's identity as a transmigrant Asian woman influenced the way she saw the world. Though she was born and had lived in Malaysia, then later Japan, she seldom saw Asian faces represented in media during her childhood, declaring that all the faces on her TV screen were those of white people. This drove her to create her own representation of people like herself. Lim's goal with her works is to create more positive and diverse representations of Asian women, and to tell the stories of those with intersecting queer-Asian identities. Her inspiration is not derived from a role model, but rather the lack thereof in her life. The aim of her work is to challenge taboo topics and to empower her audience; in this regard, she considers her films to be forms of activism.


Personal life

Lim is fluent in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
,
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
,
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
,
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
and
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
.


Filmography


Film

* 1995: ''Closet is for Clothes'' * 1999: ''Disposable Lez'' * 1999: ''Dyke: Just Be It'' * 2001: ''Eroticism'' * 2003: ''Salty Wet'' – director (Short film) * 2005: ''Out For Bubble Tea'' – director, producer, writer (Short film) * 2005: ''Some Real Fangs'' – director, producer, writer (Short film) * 2011: ''The House'' – director, producer, writer


Television

* 2001: ''Natural Mystery: Health & Hypnosis'' – associate producer (TV documentary) * 2001: ''Sugar Sweet'' – director, writer (TV movie) * 2005: ''Floored By Love'' – director, producer, writer (TV movie)


See also

*
List of female film and television directors This is a list of female film and television directors. Their works may include live action and/or animated features, shorts, documentaries, telemovies, TV programs, or videos. A * Jennifer Abbott (Canada) * Sarah Abbott (Canada * Jenn ...
*
List of lesbian filmmakers This is a list of lesbian filmmakers. The names listed include directors, producers, and screenwriters of feature films, television movies, documentaries and short films; and have received coverage or been recognized in reliable, authoritative ...
*
List of LGBT-related films directed by women This is a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related films that were directed by women. LGBT-themed films directed by women – especially, but not exclusively, lesbian-themed movies – are an important and distinct subset of the gen ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Desiree 1971 births Living people Canadian women film directors Malaysian women film directors LGBT film directors Queer women Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian lesbian writers Malaysian emigrants to Canada Malaysian LGBT people Film directors from Vancouver Sophia University alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Canadian LGBT screenwriters Canadian women screenwriters 21st-century Canadian LGBT people Asian-Canadian filmmakers Lesbian screenwriters Canadian lesbian artists