What better way to celebrate International Women’s Day by doing nothing than by watching some influencing films featuring the best portrayals of powerful women?
20 30 40
This movie is directed by Taiwanese actor and producer Sylvia Chang, 20 30 40 tells the tale of three women, each at a different stage in life dealing with love, loss and the stress of finding a place to belong with societal pressures placed on women. The youngest Xiao Jie (Angelica Lee) is a 20-year-old pursuing her dream of becoming a pop star. Xiang Xiang (Rene Liu) is a flight attendant in her thirties, who is torn between her affair with a married man and a young lover. And 40-year-old Lily Zhao is a flower-shop owner who divorced her husband after finding his infidelity and wants to get back in the dating scene.
Iron Lady
Meryl Streep is considered one of the greatest actors in Hollywood and her role as Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady is truly unforgettable. The autobiographical drama film follows Thatcher from her early years striving hard to break gender and class barriers to become the first female prime minister of England.
Little Women
This movie is featuring a star-studded cast of Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Timotée Chalamet, Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless novel Little Women is proven to be refreshing and innovative. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, the story follows the four March sisters and their different ambitions.
Parched
Parched is the story of four Gujarati women who grapple with the challenges of patriarchal village life. Rani is a widow whose son frequently rebels against her, while Janaki is a child bride who doesn’t want to marry Rani’s son but succumbs to the arranged marriage under cultural pressures. Rani’s close friend, Lajjo comes next, and she is physically and mentally abused by her alcoholic husband. Then there’s Bijli, working in an erotic dance troupe. Beyond tackling gender inequalities, the realistic, heartwarming portrayal of female bonding makes the movie a worthwhile watch.
The Breadwinner
The Breadwinner, the animated film based on the children’s book of the same name by Deborah Ellis, follows a young Afghan girl named Parvana whose father has been imprisoned. Set in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, where women are not allowed to leave the house without a man, Parvana decides to disguise herself as a boy so she can go to work and feed the family.
