ABSTRACT
The author rethinks the discourse of exceptionalism when looking at women's film histories, and at Chinese women's film histories in particular, in view of the prevalence of national and auteurist approaches to Chinese film histories. As cinema ushered in a new era of modernity to urbanising societies at the turn of the twentieth century, the participation of women was central to the development. However, the schema, having been predicated on not producing enough' leaves little room for filmmakers, screenwriters and producers like Sylvia Chang, Mabel Cheung, Ivy Ho, Ann Hui, Aubrey Lam Oi Wah and Nansun Shi, as but a handful of examples from Hong Kong cinema whose output is not only prolific but also diverse in theme and approach. The author seeks to rethink through a survey of their careers the critical frame of women's filmmaking' and film authorship as a whole. It also presents a biographical snapshots of these six prominent women within the Hong Kong film industry.
