Box Office Boom for China’s Women Directors Feeds New Parallax Films Pickups From Shao Yihui, Yin Lichuan and Yang Lina

Three important filmmakers in China's growing movement of women-led cinema—Shao Yihui, Yang Lina, and Yin Lichuan—have new movies being promoted by Parallax Films, a sales company showing them to buyers at the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) in Busan.

In the short film "Winning at Sleep," Shao uses humor to look at the idea of success and the culture of always competing.

The story follows an average girl who gets an unexpected chance to win through a strange competition.

In "It's OK," Yang works again with Wen Qi, an award-winning actress from "Angels Wear White" and "The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful." Wen plays a young teacher facing a serious health issue, while also dealing with the quiet relationship she has with her traditional mother.

The film explores ideas about what it means to be a woman and how much control a woman has over her body.

Yin's "A Joke" is the first Chinese movie that directly talks about sexual harassment at work.

The film follows a cleaner who secretly gathers evidence against her abusive boss over three years, then joins a young lawyer to take him down.

These films are part of a trend that began in 2021 with Shao's breakthrough film "B for Busy," which helped open the door for more stories centered around women in China.

Three years later, Yin's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Shao's second movie "Her Story" made over RMB845 million ($118 million) in China.

"Her Story" won best picture, best actress, and best supporting actress at the 38th Golden Rooster Awards, which are government-backed film awards in China.

Women directors have rarely seen success at these awards, making this a big moment for feminist filmmaking in the country.

On the festival scene, Luka Yuanyuan Yang's documentary hybrid "Chinatown Cha-Cha" also had a lot of success.

Parallax says that a growing number of young women are showing interest in films that talk about gender, relationships, and social pressures, proving that these movies can be very popular.Because of this, more investors, studios, and producers are now supporting projects led by women.

A new group of women directors are now working in both big studio movies and independent films, aiming for both box office success and festival recognition.

This group includes Yang (known for "Spring Tide" and "Song of Spring"), Teng Congcong (creator of "Send Me to the Clouds" and the series "To the Wonder"), and Vivian Qu (with "Angels Wear White" and "Girls on Wire").

Parallax also has other short films, like "Our Secrets," which won an award at Cannes.

Other short films like "Scorching," "Thirteenth Night," and "Fishtank" use fantasy to show what's going on inside their characters' minds."Orlo With Karma" is a coming-of-age love story from Kangdrun, the director of "Linka Linka." 

"Linka Linka," which won awards at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, looks at modern Tibetan youth culture in the city.

"100 Sunset" explores the Tibetan community in Canada.Anuparna Roy's "Lovers in the Blue Night" won at Venice.Other films include "Masayume," which won at Visions du Réel, and "From Dawn to Dawn," a documentary about family and identity.There's also "Shanghai Daughter," which is a mix of documentary and fiction."Now I Met Her" and "Embers" are more commercial movies that are part of the slate.

Recently, Parallax has signed deals for theatrical and digital sales in Europe, North America, and Asia.

"Linka Linka" has attracted a lot of interest from distributors, and "Masayume" is planned for a North American release in spring 2027.