Southeast Asian women filmmakers are making their presence felt in a field traditionally dominated by men, but greater representation is still needed to inspire others to join the industry and tell their unique stories. That was the major takeaway from a recent online panel discussion organised by Netflix to mark International Women’s Month, which is recognised every March. Among the speakers at “Women Who Rule the Screen” were Thai-American journalist and filmmaker Pailin Wedel, Malaysian producer Lina Tan, Indonesian journalist turned actress Marissa Anita, and writer Tanya Yuson from the Philippines. All have been recognised for their works and achievements. Wedel remembered “feeling lonely” when she first wanted to pursue a career in filmmaking two decades ago and couldn’t find a community or mentors in Thailand to turn to for advice. There were not a lot of women who were in the industry, she recalled, and “it was hard to find a hero that you wanted to follow in the footsteps [of]”. Wedel ended up learning video production by herself and started working on her first full-length documentary around 2013. She spent the next five years on the project, Hope Frozen , about a Thai couple who cryogenically preserved their young daughter after she died of brain cancer. Wedel’s perseverance paid off when the documentary won her the International Emmy Award for Best Documentary in 2021, a first for Thailand. Wedel, who also co-founded Bangkok-based 2050 Productions in 2016, now wants to see more Asian female players in the industry. “At least just to get the numbers out [first], to be much more representational of our population.” It is not only the numbers that are important, according to the panellists. They also think the industry, and the world, need to realise that contemporary Southeast Asian filmmakers and talent should no longer be defined by dated gender or cultural stereotypes. ‘I’m always being told I’m not enough’: gender bias in showbiz Anita said it is important for her to choose roles that are three-dimensional and have something to say. “It is important to me when I play a character, [that] I have to play not a one-sided type of woman who is meek, subservient, nice, gentle,” she said. “Yes, we are all that, but we are much more than that.” Anita also said she wanted to work with more female directors to tell stories from their perspective, like in 2021 when she appeared in Yuni , from Indonesian director Kamila Andini. “Yuni is a young woman who is living in a patriarchal society. And I’m sure a lot of women … in Southeast Asia can relate [to that experience],” Anita said, adding that the film is seen from a woman’s point of view. “I really do believe that the concept of male gaze and female gaze is very, very real,” she said. “We do see things differently, we can see things very differently. So I definitely want to see more female writers and directors to present more rounded female characters in Indonesian films.” Tanya Yuson, executive producer and co-writer for the hit Netflix original anime series Trese , about a young woman trying to find her place in a supernatural, criminal underworld in the Philippine capital Manila, said that global audiences often don’t think of Southeast Asia as a distinct part of the continent. “A lot of people internationally might have these preconceived notions of ‘What is Asia?’ They don’t even know the distinction of Southeast Asia,” she said. Trese is both universal and refreshing in that it provides details of ancient Filipino mythology in a modern way. “Even though we were specifically telling a very Filipino context, it’s still connected to audience members on that level,” Yuson said. “We have that commonality of all of us.” Wedel said that when she made the pitch for Hope Frozen to commissioning editors, she was constantly told that the story was “too Buddhist” and “too Thai”. But she said the documentary is not just an exploration of life and death through traditional Buddhism, but also of faith in science. It also serves as a counterweight to backward portrayals of Southeast Asia that dominate in the West, such as “red-light districts, human trafficking, political turmoil and beautiful beaches”, Wedel added. Her Emmy win was “mind-blowing” but more importantly, “it’s a validation that the journey is worth it, that Thai stories do carry”. Despite some progress in recent years, Southeast Asia’s women are still facing barriers when trying to get their voices heard in the industry, the panel said. “You have to have such a heightened awareness of the kinds of images and especially the kind of policing that comes when it comes to women’s issues [like] women’s bodies,” said Malaysian producer Tan. Tan’s film Sabalik Baju (Undressed), for which she guided a team of four women writers and directors, is an anthology of stories involving six women that explore seduction, destruction and the empowerment of social media. It was the No. 1 film on Netflix in Malaysia in October 2021. She expressed gratitude towards Netflix for giving her a platform to showcase and talk about “taboo topics”, explaining that she feels the shadow of censorship when she produces shows about sexual identity, harassment and rape in her home country. “I think … the conservativeness of the country has become a little bit worse [over the years],” she said. The panellists called upon the entertainment industry to produce more varied stories about Southeast Asia that go beyond stereotypical topics, and to let more female representatives tell Asian stories, decipher Asian conflicts, and expose the often-overlooked links between Asia and the West. “Women are not unusual in the managerial and executive part … So there is no shortage of women in the industry, and the men that support them … are there as well,” Yuson said. “But we still can be better for both and for everybody.”