Centre of Taiwan studies summer school roundtable: Women in Taiwan cinema

As part of the 2025 SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies Summer School, we are delighted to host a roundtable discussion on women in Taiwan cinema. Bringing together leading scholars and activists, this session explores how feminist perspectives have shaped, challenged, and redefined cinematic narratives and institutions in Taiwan.

Event Description: 

To what extent is the feminist perspective represented in Taiwan cinema? In what ways are women portrayed, and how have they shaped, challenged, and redefined cinematic expression—both on screen and behind the scenes? In other words, what does it mean to look at Taiwan cinema through a feminist lens? 

This roundtable brings together leading voices in film scholarship and feminist activism to explore the historical trajectories, institutional challenges, and creative strategies that have informed women’s representation and participation in Taiwan’s cinematic landscape. 

The discussion is the centrepiece of our Feminist Cinema focus this year, which also includes four academic lectures and six film screenings (featuring both documentaries and feature films) engaging with gender and feminist issues in Taiwan cinema.  

We are honoured to welcome distinguished panellists: 

•  Dr. Wang Chun-chi is a distinguished film scholar (National Taipei University of the Arts) and an experienced film promoter and curator, as the former Director of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), and the former Chair of both the Taiwan Women’s Film Association and the Women Make Waves Film Festival. 
• Fan Ching is a long-time feminist activist and writer. She served as the former Chair of Taiwan Women’s Film Association and has long been involved in the promotion of Women Make Wave festival. She is now also co-leading the HerFootprints (女人屐痕) project, and acts as Vice President of Tamsui Community University.
• Professor Cheng Ling-fang is the former director of the Institute of Gender Studies, Kaohsiung Medical University. She is specialised in gender and sociology, gender and STS（Science, Technology and Society), gender and work. Ph.D. (Essex), M.Phil. (Leeds). An open Q&A session will follow the presentations.
• Dr Ming-Yeh Rawnsley is the Research Associate, Centre of Taiwan Studies, SOAS University of London; Research Associate, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan; and the founding Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Taiwan Studies (2018–present). She worked as a researcher at the University of Nottingham (1999–2005) and became Head of Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (2005–2007). She haa published widely in both English and Chinese on Chinese-language cinema and media and democratisation in Taiwan. 

(image credit: Dark Light2021 via Unsplash)