Japanese women directors

[amnornes@umich.edu]

Quoting tim.iles at utoronto.ca:

> Aaron wrote:
>
>> As for women directors, I think Tim's initial suggestion calls for
>> films from any era, not just new ones. Any candidates there?
>
> Personally, I'd be _very_ surprised if there were any female 
> directors  of note before the 1960s...

For directors, try Atsugi Taka, Sakane Tazuko, Tanaka Kinuyo, Idemitsu 
Mako, Hidari Sachiko, Hamano Sachi, Tokieda Toshie, Haneda Sumiko, 
more. Starting in the 1980s, video opens a space for many, many more.

> The Iran case is interesting--I've yet to see an Iranian film by a  
> female director, but I've enjoyed very much the (small) handful of  
> Iranian films I've seen.

As in the Japanese case, many of the women who managed to direct films 
before the video era were actresses or had connections to 
screenwriting. This goes back to the 30s and 40s. For more recent 
cinema, you must check out the work of Samira Makhmalbaf (daughter of 
Mohsen M.). It could be there were more Iranian female directors than 
Japanese before 1979.

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