These are ten feature films you shouldn’t miss at the Women Make Waves International Film Festival which will take place from October 12 – 22, 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan.

For this festival we also recommended 10 Short Films, you can read the article HERE

Above and Below the Ground by Emily Hong – Myanmar, USA, Thailand | 2023 – 86 minutes
Above and Below the Ground tells the story of brave indigenous women activists and punk rock pastors coming together to protect the sacred Irrawaddy river from a Chinese-built mega dam. In the war-torn Northern Myanmar, these activists and musicians form the last line of defense for communities caught between coveted natural resources, military cronies, and profit-hungry multinationals, fighting back with their best weapons: protest, prayer, and Karaoke music videos. (WNW 2023)

And, Towards Happy Alleys by Sreemoyee Singh – India | 2023 – 75 minutes
Inspired by Iranian cinema and poetry, a young Indian filmmaker explores daily resistance and survival in Iran, capturing poignant interviews with Jafar PANAHI, activists, and Iranian women amidst strict censorship. Over six years, the camera reveals the nation’s simmering anxieties, hopes, and dreams on the brink of revolution. (WMW 2023)

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Category: Woman by Phyllis Ellis – Canada | 2022 – 76 minutes
When international sport governing bodies rule that female athletes must medically alter their healthy bodies, under the guise of fair play, four champion runners fight back against racism, the policing of women’s bodies in sport and the violation of their human rights. What is a female? Category: Woman explores the age-old question that leads to the most controversial debate in sports as well as in culture which has become as timely as ever. (WMW 2023)

Gaga by Laha Mebow – Taiwan | 2022 – 112 minutes
High in the mountains lies an indigenous tribe. As a wisp of smoke curls from the hearth, Hayung’s family starts their day. Hayung practices GAGA, Atayal people’s rule concerning way of life. After Hayung passes away, his sons appear to deviate from the ancestral teachings and get embroiled in the local election at all costs. Could the family stick together and prevail against the crisis? (WMW 2023)

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Hidden Letters by Violet Du Feng, Qing Zhao – China, Germany, Norway, USA | 2022 – 87 minutes
Women in China were historically forced into oppressive marriages and forbidden to read or write for thousands of years. To cope, they developed a secret language called “Nushu.” Written in poems or songs, Nushu bonded generations of Chinese women in a support system of sisterhood and survival. Hidden Letters follows two millennial women who are connected by their fascination with Nushu, depicting their struggle to find balance as they forge their own paths in a patriarchal culture. (WMW 2023)

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Home Ground by Kwon Aram – Korea | 2022 – 77 minutes
“Chanel” in Myeong-dong in the 1970s was the secret hideout for Butches and Femmes. In 1996, young lesbians opened Korea’s first lesbian bar, “LesVos.” In the early 2000s, queer teens seeking a community gathered in a small park in Sinchon. Myong-woo, who ran “LesVos” nearby, is still guarding the place 20 years later. As the coronavirus crisis hit, the bar has lost its customers. Will “LesVos” survive a they be able to protect the place during the coronavirus pandemicthis time? (WMW 2023)

Hummingbirds by Estefanía “Beba” Contreras, Silvia Castaños – USA | 2023 – 77 minutes
In Laredo, a city in southern Texas on the Mexican border, Silvia and Beba’s friendship blossoms into a kaleidoscope of conversation, laughs, and activist shenanigans as they spend one final summer together before they go their separate ways. Stuck in the immigration process in a politically divided America, home seems fragile. But their bond is not. The half-light is a space for poetry and dreams. (WMW 2023)

Kokomo City by D. Smith – USA | 2023 – 73 minutes
Kokomo City portrays four Black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia. Shot in striking black and white, four Black trans sex workers the protagonists discuss their lives with relish and profound reflections on knotty desire, far-reaching taboo, identification in labor, socio-political and social realities. Unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, the filmmaker and her subjects smash the trendy standard for authenticity, offering a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness. (WMW 2023)

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The Eternal Memory by Maite Alberdi – Chile | 2023 – 85 minutes
Augusto, a veteran Chilean journalist, and Paulina, actress, activist and politician, have been a tight-knit loving couple for over 20 years. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago, and now they both face the inexorable and accelerating descent of his physical and mental powers together. Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, the story of Paulina’s warm and uncompromising dedication and Augusto’s fierce fight to hold on to his identity is a deeply affecting testimony to their love. (WMW 2023)

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The Lucky Woman by Tseng Wen-Chen – Taiwan | 2020 – 87 minutes
Why do they run away? To make more money or to pursue better job opportunities? Through the accounts of two “runaway” migrant workers, the film shows the highs and lows of their lives. They give up their legal status as migrant workers and take risks to work illegally. By spending their youth in Taiwan, they try to give their family a better life and to change their own fate. (WMW 2023)

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For this festival we also recommended 10 Short Films, you can read the article HERE

For more information, please visit: https://www.wmw.org.tw/en/