Women Makes Waves is a film festival based in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
since 1993.
It is the first and only women's film festival in the country.
It is the largest women's film festival in Asia, and predates the
Taipei Film Festival
The Taipei Film Festival (TFF; ) is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, through the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government. It was first held in 1998, from September 28 to October 5.
Currently chaired by ...
, which was founded in 1998. Since 2005, there is also an annual Asian Lesbian Film and Video Festival in Taipei,
and since 2014, the annual
Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
Taiwan International Queer Film Festival (TIQFF; ) is an annual LGBT film festival held each fall in Taipei, Taiwan. Other events are held in Kaoshiung and Taichung. It was founded in 2014 by the Taiwanese LGBT activist Jay Lin, and is the only L ...
(TIQFF), the only LGBTQ film festival in Taiwan, which has screenings every autumn in Taipei and two other major cities.
In ''Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts'', edited by Lingzhen Wang, it is noted that the initial event at the Huo K'o Gallery in Taipei was called the Women's Visual Arts Festival.
It was founded by the Taiwanese filmmaker
Yu-shan Huang, supported by Lee Yuan-chen and other members of the ''Women Awakening'' magazine.
The film festival is organized by the
Taiwan Women's Film Association (TFWA) which was established in 1998 with help from the Taiwan government and civic organisations, and was originally known as the Taipei Women's Film Association.
In 2001, it became the first touring film festival in Taiwan with the aim of reducing the urban-rural divide in access to cinema.
The film festival has screened nearly one thousand international and Taiwanese films, specialising in films of a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
perspective, moving beyond the mainstream outlook to focus on voices and issues that are often unheard, explored and delighted in. The organization is also involved in distribution of films and books; it works in education and video training. The members of TWFA are mainly filmmakers, artists and academics of film or gender studies. Highlights from the film festival have also gone on an international tour including to New York.
See also
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Cinema of Taiwan
The cinema of Taiwan ( zh, t=臺灣電影 or ) is deeply rooted in the island's unique history. Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901 under Japanese rule, cinema has developed in Taiwan under ROC rule through several distinct stages. It has ...
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List of women's film festivals
Women's film festivals are film events geared to promote women in the film industry. Women’s film festivals began due to the lack of female voice within the film industry. To combat this hindrance, their own film festival was designed. Most women ...
References
Film festivals in Taiwan
Women's film festivals
Recurring events established in 1993
1993 establishments in Taiwan
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