Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and authority are primarily held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, definitions specific to anthropology and feminism differ in some respects. Most anthropologists hold that there are no known societies that are unambiguously matriarchal.
The Mosuo, often called the Naxi among themselves, are a small ethnic group living in China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, many of them live in the Yongning region, around Lugu Lake, in Labai, in Muli, and in Yanyuan.
The Kumaso (熊襲) were a mythical people of ancient Japan mentioned in the Kojiki, believed to have lived in the south of Kyūshū until at least the Nara period. The last leader of the Kumaso, Torishi-Kaya was killed by Yamato Takeru in 397. The name of Kumamoto Prefecture originates from the Kumaso people.
The World is a 2004 Chinese drama written and directed by Jia Zhangke about the work and the life of several young people moving from the countryside to a world park. Starring Jia's muse, Zhao Tao, as well as Cheng Taishen, The World was filmed on and around an actual theme park located in Beijing, Beijing World Park, which recreates world landmarks at reduced scales for Chinese tourists. The World introduces new technologies like binoculars, coin-operated telescopes, digital cameras, mobile phones and digital services in the theme park as touristic tools to virtually travel around the world, emphasizing the globalization and convenience. It is a metaphor for Chinese society to experience the sense of mobility, but the knowledge is still limited domestically and the environment of simulation is seen as a sense of escaping from the real world. The World was Jia's first film to gain official approval from the Chinese government. Additionally, it was the first of his films to take place outside of his home province of Shanxi.
Lamu Gatusa (Gaofeng Shi) is an associate professor at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, in Kunming, Yunnan, China. He is also a writer, and a three-time winner of China's Minority People Literature Award.
Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.
Xiaolu Guo FRSL is a Chinese-born British novelist, memoirist and film-maker, who explores migration, alienation, memory, personal journeys, feminism, translation and transnational identities.
Lugu Lake is located in the northwest of the Yunnan plateau, with the middle of the lake forming the border between the Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan Province. The formation of the lake is thought to have occurred in a geological fault belonging to the geological age of the Late Cenozoic. It is an alpine lake at an elevation of 2,685 metres (8,809 ft) and is the highest lake in the Yunnan Province. The lake is surrounded by mountains and has five islands, four peninsulas, fourteen bays and seventeen beaches.
Marlo Poras is an American filmmaker.
Heide Göttner-Abendroth is a German feminist advocating matriarchy studies, focusing on the study of matriarchal or matrilineal societies.
Lynne Sachs is an American experimental filmmaker and poet living in Brooklyn, New York. Her moving image work ranges from documentaries, to essay films, to experimental shorts, to hybrid live performances. Working from a feminist perspective, Sachs weaves together social criticism with personal subjectivity. Her films embrace a radical use of archives, performance and intricate sound work. Between 2013 and 2020, she collaborated with musician and sound artist Stephen Vitiello on five films.
Bringing King to China is a 2011 documentary film by Kevin McKiernan. The cinematographers include three-time Oscar-winner Haskell Wexler.
Habiba Djahnine is an Algerian film producer of particularly documentary films, curator of international film festivals, writer, essayist and feminist.
The Farewell is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Lulu Wang. It stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Zhao Shuzhen. The film follows a Chinese American woman named Billi, who learns her grandmother, Nai Nai, has only a short while left to live. Billi's family has decided to schedule a family gathering before Nai Nai dies, and not tell Nai Nai of her fatal illness.
Julia Bell Reichert was an American Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, activist, and feminist. She was a co-founder of New Day Films. Reichert's filmmaking career spanned over 50 years as a director and producer of documentaries.
Rachel Leah Jones is an American-Israeli documentary film director and producer. Her documentary film Advocate about the controversial human rights lawyer Leah Tsemel, which she co-directed and co-produced with cinematographer Philippe Bellaïche, premiered at 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and won top prizes at Kraków Film Festival, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and Docaviv Festival.
Finding Yingying is an 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Jiayan "Jenny" Shi about the disappearance of college student Yingying Zhang and her family's search to find her.
Pailin Wedel is a Thai-American photojournalist, film director and producer best known for directing, producing and co-writing the documentary Hope Frozen (2018), which was picked up for distribution through Netflix in 2020. She served as producer on Operation Thailand, a documentary series that explored Thailand's medical tourism industry, and as a director on 101 East, a weekly current affairs series created by Al Jazeera. Prior to her work in film and video journalism, Wedel created content for multiple publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. With her husband, she also founded 2050 Productions, a Bangkok-based documentary team, in 2016.
Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese American director and producer. She was nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for directing the documentary Ascension.
Zoe Ramushu is a South Africa based Zimbabwean writer, director, producer, actress and multimedia journalist. Her debut film, It Takes A Circus was nominated for the Student Academy Awards. Zoe Ramushu is co-founder and former spokesperson of Sisters Working in Film and Television. She also chairs a committee for the South African Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
