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Mi-Mi Lee

Mi-Mi Lee

Birth : , Pingtung, Taiwan

History

Born in Chaozhou, Pingtung in 1946, shortly after graduating from Shih Hsin University, Mi-Mi Lee joined the crew of The Story of a Deity (1969) as a script supervisor for Japanese director Yamanouchi Tetsuya, who she considered the first person to illuminate her path to filmmaking. She continued to work as a script supervisor on multiple films including Four Moods (1970), co-director by Lee Hsing. She was also the assistant director for directors Pan Lei and Wang Yu. Mi-Mi Lee made her first directorial film in 1972 with the Taiwanese-language film Pure Love and went on to direct and independently produce three feature films in the early 1980s, including Evening News, Unmarried Mothers, and Girls’ School dubbed as the “Taiwanese Urban Female Trilogy.” Her films have a distinctive auteur approach: simple yet bold composition, smooth cutting, vivid female characters, and a story containing an idealistic vision of a “female utopia”. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, she was the youngest female director in TTV at that time. She was one of the primary directors for primetime dramas produced by Taiwan’s three major television stations (TTV, CTV, CTS), making an early start in the industry as a professional television show director.

Profile

Mi-Mi Lee

Movies

Director

Chih-Ting and Chia-Lin, two students in Pingtung Girls’ Senior High School, are bosom friends. Their close friendship attracts jealousy from other classmates; thus rumors about them being lesbians spread. When this groundless rumor victimizes Chih-Ting and costs her best friend, it becomes too much to bear. In the 70s, the Taiwanese mainstream society regarded homosexuality as a negative variation of sexuality and imputed the cause of homosexuality to growing up in an unhealthy environment. However, the two protagonists’ friendship remains the heart of the story. Their unspoken emotional undercurrents are left for the audience to infer.

Director

Shih-Yen is upset about Ko-Ching prioritizing her career over their marriage and even getting an abortion without his knowledge. To express discontent, Shih-Yen moves in with his mistress. Despite feeling overwhelmed by her messy personal life, Ko-Ching manages to lead her company and delivers a successful fashion show. The film reflects on career women’s struggles between family and work, it also describes the gender role stereotypes in a marriage. Although the film demonstrates clearly women’s difficult role in society, it still chooses to show the possibility of women being independent, capable and charming to refute the status quo of patriarchy.

Unmarried Mothers

Unmarried Mothers

Director

Hsiao-Peng, an unmarried mother is sent to a maternity home for young single mothers. During her time in the maternity home, she slowly overcomes the depressive thoughts and builds strong bonds with Wen-Yueh, Ko-Hsin, and Madam Pai. After moving out the maternity home, Hsiao-Peng lives with Wen-Yueh and Ko-Hsin in an apartment where they continue to be each other’s support. The two main settings of the film, the maternity home and the apartment, build an atypical family model. It is a tender coming-of-age tale where women are empowered with the right to think for themselves.