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  • Tazuko Sakane, with music by Nobu Kōda

    Tazuko Sakane, with music by Nobu Kōda
    2024/01/28
    Films: my Ikigai, my reason for living
    They gave true purpose to this silent lady
    The first the Land of The Rising Sun would bring

    My work ethics were far from being shady
    I was the eldest daughter of six siblings
    In the old capital I was a baby

    Kyoto was Japan’s Hollywood in billings
    My father was tied to the film industry
    The screening room was part of my beginnings

    For us it was a frequent activity
    I was charmed by the yūgen of these pictures
    That fine grace that kept me in captivity

    I loved studying but I had saboteurs
    My stepmother forced me to quit college soon
    She thought it convenient to work indoors

    An educated woman was a buffoon
    It was arranged for me to become a wife
    At twenty-one I had tied the knot to attune

    But four years later I took hold of my life
    My husband betrayed me and I divorced him
    I returned to my parents’ home with no strife

    Finally my Big Bang, it was not a whim
    I no longer was a man’s accessory
    For a high class woman working was not prim

    I pursued my own kind of exemplary
    I was determined to be self-reliant
    Papa helped me find my new trajectory

    I assisted a cinematic giant
    Kenji Mizoguchi was a film master
    With his wife Chieko I was compliant

    With them I learnt how to make movies faster
    Through cinema we expressed Ishin-Denshin
    This unspoken connection was our plaster

    On set I took multiple tasks to begin
    To do so the kimono wasn’t practical
    Therefore I wore trousers while people would grin

    Blending in this male-workplace was tactical
    I joined Mizoguchi’s transfer to Tokyo
    My approach to movies was pragmatical

    My directorial launch was about to glow
    But colleagues got jealous of my ambition
    My promotion was compromised by my foe

    Sabotaging me became their sole mission
    They invented an affair with my Sensei
    I rose from the ashes of opposition

    Back to Kyoto with my mentor was the way
    To direct at last my first film, New Clothing
    Kosugi Tengai’s book became cine-play

    A singular romance I was disclosing
    Between a future geisha and Buddhist priest
    A female film director was imposing

    My private life was slandered to say the least
    I went back to being Mizoguchi’s aide
    The second warfare arrived in the Far East

    Censorship prevailed, but I was not afraid
    I left my guru to form my own project
    Telling the Ainu story was my crusade

    I wanted to express my utter respect
    To this indigenous minority group
    The nation’s policies it did not reflect

    Nihon did not allow you to break the loop
    So, The Manchuria Film Association
    Is where I worked, in the education troop

    Chinese women were target of formation
    During my four years there, fourteen films I made
    For Sino-Japanese appreciation

    Settling in Manchuria I would persuade
    Then came the Asian Pacific War defeat
    Those kind of documentaries had to fade

    At the Chinese Studio I took a seat
    I was a simple cinema craftsperson
    I returned to my homeland with no drumbeat

    I thought it was time for my self-assertion
    It was the autumn of 1946
    I was overpowered by disconcertion

    I could not direct for the new politics
    A college degree was obligatory
    These were the rules of my country I couldn’t fix

    Mizoguchi greeted me with no glory
    Years before I left his team, he had proposed
    I saw it as a mere act of vainglory

    His wife was in hospital and I opposed I
    did not foresee me needing his support
    He was unemotional, yet well-disposed

    I was part of the past, no future consort
    He had a mistress and someone like a spouse
    Being his script clerk was my only passport

    To return actively in the movie house
    At forty-two this fate was my kintsugi
    The golden repair was this abrupt rehouse

    I retired from that life eventually
    In my fifties I was freelancing with bliss
    I kept the tradition of rice and green tea

    But some societal norms I did dismiss
    Tazuko Sakane embraced queerness freely
    I helped feminism rise from Japan’s abyss

    Until 1953 I was surely
    The only woman to direct in Nippon
    When Tanaka Kinuyo began shyly

    I feel close to the cinephiles who move on
    I sense aidagara through motion pictures
    We are united by the film reel proton.
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    7 分
  • Xie Caizhen, with music by Xiao Shuxian

    Xie Caizhen, with music by Xiao Shuxian
    2024/01/28
    Nǐhǎo from this first time female director
    Who actually made movies in China
    Marion E. Wong shared my descent and sector

    Her pictures were made in California
    To Americans our culture she unveiled
    While I shaped the cinema form in Zhongguo

    The Shanghai Shadow Play Company I nailed
    It was founded by Dan Duyu, my mentor
    Working as one of his actresses prevailed

    The Shen Bao press praised my expressive ardour
    Working for Li Jiran truly changed my fate
    The Nanxing Film Company was my harbour

    From their I set sail to my directing state
    An Orphan’s Cry made in 1925
    Was my feature that the public defined great

    Dysfunctional families it would revive
    Glimpsing women from the working-class endure
    The extras I hired were at least forty-five

    The biggest set was the banquet scene for sure
    The complex storyline surprised everyone
    The female-directed drama had allure

    My movie in theatres had a longer run
    Eight days as opposed to the usual three
    The box office sales it had smashingly won

    My brother Yonglan, film co-star and carefree
    Moved onto a prolific acting career
    He appeared in fifty films of high degree

    Meanwhile my film craft was stuck in second gear
    I was asked to join a new project to act
    But it did not evolve into a premiere

    However, Xie Caizhen did have an impact
    I was far from being a paper tiger
    I roared through moving images, that’s a fact.
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    4 分
  • Fatma Begum, with music by Jaddanbai Hussain

    Fatma Begum, with music by Jaddanbai Hussain
    2024/01/28
    The first female director in Bollywood
    Is how I’ll be known when I’m with the resters
    Our industry began before Hollywood

    In 1899 we had The Wrestlers
    In Old California arrived much later
    I was with the Indian cinema settlers

    I pursued a career path as a dream maker
    I was from an Urdu-Muslim family
    I was very hardworking, not a faker

    They tried to tie my name to some calumny
    Claiming I married the Sachin State ruler
    No records of this exist actually

    What is certain is I was a proud mother
    My Zubeida, Sultana, and Shehzadi
    Were the top actresses one could discover

    My great-grandchildren were in this industry
    I suppose motion pictures ran in our veins
    From the stage I shifted to screen imagery

    Veer Abhimanyu captured me in film frames
    Usually men played the role of women
    I liberated the system from these chains

    With me the female actor was unhidden
    For my fair complexion I used dark make-up
    That suited the sepia reel exhibition

    My pretty onscreen face wanted to shake up
    So I launched my own production house promptly
    In 1926 Fatma Films came up

    Bulbul-e-Paristan, my first fantasy
    Marked my directorial debut with grandeur
    Many lakhs of rupees were used tactfully

    For this high budget picture show of allure
    I was the Georges Méliès of my populace
    In 1928 I was in galore

    My company changed name and grew in success
    Victoria-Fatima Films thrived, as I
    My trick photography was quite a progress

    For special effects I developed a keen eye
    Writing, directing, producing were my craft
    For acting jobs, with bliss, I would still apply

    Working at Kohinoor Studios was a blast
    Namaste to the Imperial Studios too
    Goddess of Luck was the film I shot for last

    I acted in Duniya Kya Hai? and was through
    After sixteen years in film I was content
    Fatma Begum shaped cinematics anew.
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    4 分
  • Aziza Amir, with music by Umm Kulthum

    Aziza Amir, with music by Umm Kulthum
    2024/01/28
    I was the Land of Pharaohs’ film shaker
    First I was Mofeda Mohamed Ghoneim
    My humble origins were no dream breaker

    My status and life would have changed in due time
    Damietta, Alexandria, Cairo
    Are the places were I spent most of my prime

    Being a female artist could bring sorrow
    My nation would shun women of performance
    With the revolution, minds were less narrow

    I changed name for theatrical conformance
    It preserved the family reputation
    Youssef Wahbi was a man of importance

    The founder of Ramses marked my formation
    I started acting in his stage company
    To perform felt like such a liberation

    I became Aziza Amir suddenly
    Stockbroker Elie Derie was my patron
    The Mayor of Samalout found me lovely

    Ahmed El Sheirei chose me as his matron
    Our nuptials created unpleasant headlines
    I did not switch to a life in an apron

    I quit the stage for passions of other kinds
    With my Isis Film I began a new feat
    Vedat Örfi Bengü didn’t meet my guidelines

    Call Of Allah was exceedingly offbeat
    Thus, I hired Stephan Rosti as director
    Laila became the film everyone would greet

    King Fuuad admired it through a projector
    My dance was emulated by filmmakers
    Cinema was developing a sector

    Nationalism was crucial for lawmakers
    I enjoyed performing in foreign pictures
    I cherished working with all moviemakers

    I directed my cinematic scriptures
    Like The Girl From The Nile and Repent Your Sins
    I chose a silent film with no sound mixtures

    For a multicultural plot with love wings
    And meanwhile I got divorced and remarried
    With Ahmed’s brother, Mustafa, I exchanged rings

    But my work in film caused him to be worried
    Because I founded a business with a man
    Mahmoud Zulficar’s presence made him flurried

    Amir Film had all of my attention span
    Hence, another separation and wedlock
    The architect-turned-filmmaker was my man

    The Talent Finder could make spectators flock
    This Event Maker was the love of my life
    Our partnership was as solid as a rock

    We didn’t have kids but I was a happy wife
    The daughter I adopted was Amira
    We worked on a film where kith and kin were rife

    I peeked into cinema’s talking era
    The Godmother of Egyptian Cinema
    Was my title and calling, no chimera.
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    4 分
  • Paulette McDonagh, with music by Mirrie Hill

    Paulette McDonagh, with music by Mirrie Hill
    2024/01/27
    I was a film director from Down Under
    The Emerald City is where I was born
    I was considered as a child of wonder

    My artistic aptitude was not timeworn
    In the suburb of Drummoyne I grew with bliss
    Third of seven kids, I was never forlorn

    With my family, plays I would never miss
    Dad was surgeon for the theatre circle
    Attending weekly soirées I reminisce

    Aussie motion pictures became my portal
    I formed a trio with two of my sisters
    Phyllis as publisher promoted sparkle

    Isabel was the actress with no glitters
    Marie Lorraine is the stage name she would use
    In my life and work these two were my pillars

    I, the youngest, would write, direct and produce
    Our home served as a natural set to start
    The antique furniture looked fancy and spruce

    When father passed away it all fell apart
    Mama turned the house into a nursing home
    Soon after she left us alone with our art

    Cinema stirred in me the Stendhal Syndrome
    Directing Those Who Love was unexpected
    I adored the realm of flickering bichrome

    My teacher Percy John Ramster deflected
    I had to step in and the press gave plaudit
    Also the box office was well affected

    It was the first Australian film market hit
    The Far Paradise was the work that followed
    Hollywood drama inspired me, I admit

    Also German Expressionism I borrowed
    It was a sell-out, but it was zilch for us
    Distribution all our revenues swallowed

    The financial strain threw us under the bus
    We had to mortgage the family mansion
    Yet our third picture we managed to discuss

    The Cheaters could have brought to an expansion
    We did not accept the exhibition deal
    I would forevermore regret this action

    Making movies became a business ordeal
    During the Depression we made sporting shorts
    The swimming Olympic team held great appeal

    Neville Macken was our investor of sorts
    We firmly went on with Two Minutes Silence
    The plot was based on Armistice Day reports

    It was revered as a work of alliance
    Commended by Prime Minister Billy Hughes
    Poet Kenneth Slessor found it of guidance

    Its social realism was raved in the news
    But ticket sales did not match this sentiment
    This was the best of my films without excuse

    In 1933 I was relevant
    As one of the five world female directors
    Paulette McDonagh was perceived as excellent

    Our film-tryptic split in different sectors
    Isabel moved to London with her consort
    Phyllis also renounced her cine-receptors

    Her editor profession no one could thwart
    I wanted to make a film about John Flynn
    The Medical Reverend of the Airport

    Without raising the budget it was no-win
    I made some documentaries later on
    I briefly resided with my younger kin

    Then moved to Kings Cross, dreaming of lives foregone
    The McDonagh Sisters propelled cultural change
    May the female film power of Oz push on.
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    5 分
  • Cleo de Verberena, with music by Chiquinha Gonzaga

    Cleo de Verberena, with music by Chiquinha Gonzaga
    2024/01/27
    Primeira mulher cineasta do Brasil
    That is who I was, am and will always be
    I was overtly driven by my strong will

    I debuted behind the camera with glee
    My film O Mistério do Dominó Preto
    Was a silent picture and not a talkie

    A sound-movie had been done here, I do know
    Acabaram-se os Otários was it
    A couple of years prior to my film-show

    First I was a small-town girl, not a misfit
    Born Jacyra Martins da Silveira
    I left Amparo for São Paulo, with grit

    My aspirations were not at all bourgeois
    I was charmed by the progressive Capital
    Bookshops, theatres, ateliers, the cinema

    The elite encouraged the industrial
    Like Greta Garbo I wanted to perform
    Erich von Stroheim’s style was so natural

    Fred Niblo too, inspired my creative storm
    I found a man who fully shared my vision
    Cesar Melani was truly multiform

    My love was the son of a fazendeiro
    He studied medicine, but film was his path
    I shared this calling with my cavaleiro

    Our wedding gift was a tool to videograph
    Our son, Cesar Augusto overjoyed us
    His exuberance would always make us laugh

    Épica Films was our cinematic compass
    My husband and I chose stage names for our craft
    Cleo de Verberena was my alias

    Laes Mac Reni was his anagram at last
    An inheritance morphed in our company
    For some time our style of living was a blast

    With ViaLáctea I worked on stage merrily
    Our family moved to Rio for business
    I met Carmen Santos, who was so lovely

    But my cinema projects made no progress
    Melodia da Saudade was never made
    I was planning to film with audio to impress

    I truly thought investors I could persuade
    But I was confined to my silent picture
    United States movies were preferred for trade

    Something worse happened in my own life Scripture
    Our boy’s tenth birthday turned into a tragedy
    My consort died, the pain I could not endure

    Filmmaking ended for me eternally
    It took some years for me to marry again
    I changed all of my objectives purposely

    I left the past behind me, by being zen
    Francisco Landestoy Saint Jean was consul
    In Liverpool, I often made roast chicken

    In Santiago, my chorrillana would rule
    Widowhood would strike again mercilessly
    But my son and daughter-in-law were my fuel

    Three more men involved me sentimentally
    They were Rodolfo, Ricardo, Roberto
    My grandchildren engaged me vivaciously

    They ignored I once was a film esperto
    First female Portuguese-speaking director
    The future should grant my kind a concerto.
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    4 分
  • Gabriela von Bussenius Vega, with music by Carmela Mackenna

    Gabriela von Bussenius Vega, with music by Carmela Mackenna
    2024/01/27
    I was just seventeen when I made my film
    I was the first Chilean female director
    Through time this role turned into a phantom limb

    In fact, I became a prolific writer
    The picture show is where I moved my first steps
    I then was journalist, playwright and author

    The one movie I directed was complex
    I also wrote the script, whilst my husband helped
    With photography and editing effects

    Salvador Giambastiani in Chile dwelt
    My dear spouse was an Italian immigrant
    His love for South America was heartfelt

    With him, the Chile Film Co I would implant
    Also Guillermo Bidwell joined our project
    As well as Luis Larraín, who would enchant

    These men on my directorial work leapt
    The Agony of Arauco had their aid
    The film on the Mapuche people would reflect

    Colonists and indigenous I displayed
    El Diario Ilustrado praised me
    My interest behind the camera swayed

    Thus, I worked with my consort anonymously
    His sudden death made me part from filmmaking
    I embarked upon a lovely writing spree

    I hope my name one day will be inspiring
    Gabriela von Bussenius Vega
    The woman who encouraged to be daring.
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    2 分
  • Mimí Derba, with music by María Grever

    Mimí Derba, with music by María Grever
    2024/01/27
    Herminia Pérez de León was by birth
    Yet the name that made me known was another
    Being Mimí Derba was the cause of my mirth

    It was inspired by a vigorous other
    Someone compared me to this energy drink
    It was fitting for all, even my mother

    I always felt different and at the brink
    I found the frivolous theatre profound
    Sharing social criticism without a blink

    Thus, acting in these plays took me off the ground
    I started as a Zarzuela performer
    El congreso feminista would dumfound

    Our thespian company was a reformer
    From Mexico we went to Cuba and back
    I felt so accomplished as a transformer

    Alfonso Camín’s poem was about my knack
    When I wore a skin-coloured jumpsuit on stage
    Giving wave to a very shocking feedback

    I then embraced the silent cinema age
    Above all I loved to be an activist
    I founded the actor’s union for fair wage

    It caused me some job loss but I did resist
    Azteca Films was the movie company
    That Enrique Rosas and I would assist

    Our cinematic quest began wondrously
    In 1917 we produced five films
    But the Spanish pandemic changed things quickly

    I was a resolute woman with no frills
    I went to New York looking for a buyer
    For our studio we lacked the selling skills

    With Enrique we decided to retire
    Azteca Films was over, but I was not
    My creative impetus was still on fire

    When in trouble I was accustomed to trot
    I had written about Huerta’s suppression
    As well as Maderismo’s rebellious lot

    False gossip tried to sully my profession
    Claiming a romance with Pablo González
    During Carranza’s presidential session

    I saw many political mirages
    Cosmopolitan nationalism was one
    With Porfiriato mixing with sagas

    Some literary movements had just begun
    Like Indigenismo that sparked a debate
    Investment in our film industry was none

    I tried to present a project to the State
    To give it national funds like other arts
    But my idea was not welcomed as great

    I married Raúl de Anda, my ace of hearts
    A soldier who courted me relentlessly
    Our union did not last long in the love charts

    My onscreen acting career grew quite quickly
    Working in talkies with legends of my time
    I had the chance to try radio swiftly

    Television too, which felt like pantomime
    I did traverse the age of sound broadcasting
    But I was a silent lady in my prime

    Through La Tigresa I was everlasting
    The first female director in my nation
    I showed how to be both gentle and blasting.
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    5 分