11 emerging Asian women film and TV directors, from Pixar’s Domee Shi to Beef’s Hikari

Chloé Zhao’s immensely successful 2020 drama Nomadland marked a turning point for Asian women directors, and there is no shortage of talent around

From Domee Shi, the China-born animator of Pixar’s Turning Red, to Hikari, who directed three episodes of Netflix’s Beef, here are some of the ones to watch

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Korean-Canadian director Celine Song (second from left) with the cast of her acclaimed film “Past Lives” at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Song is just one of many exciting emerging Asian women directors to be making a splash in the movie industry. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15am, 17 May 2023Updated: 8:04pm, 19 May 2023

When Chloé Zhao swept the awards season with her 2020 drama Nomadland, winning the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival and the best picture and best director Oscars at the Academy Awards, her success marked a major turning point for female filmmakers – and Asian representation – on the industry’s biggest stages.

With Michelle Yeoh’s history-making win in the best actress category at this year’s Oscars, female-fronted stories from Asia look to be finally getting the recognition they deserve.

This begs the question: where will the next award-winning storyteller come from? We look at 11 emerging female Asian filmmakers poised to reach a global audience.

1. Domee Shi

The China-born Canadian animator made history in 2022 with her debut feature Turning Red, becoming the first woman to receive sole directorial credit on a Pixar movie.

This often hilarious, occasionally frank tale of a Chinese teenager growing up in Toronto, Canada, who discovers that she can transform into a giant red panda when she hits puberty, was nominated for best animated feature at the Academy Awards earlier this year.

Domee Shi at the 38th Santa Barbara Film Festival in Santa Barbara, California, in February 2023. Photo: Getty Images

Shi previously won the Oscar for best animated short in 2018, with Bao – a similarly culturally specific ode to her heritage and childhood.

The director has since been promoted to vice-president of creative at Pixar and has confirmed that development has begun on her follow-up animated feature film.