Hidden Letters
Women in China were historically forced into oppressive marriages and forbidden to read or write by their households for thousands of years. To cope, they developed and shared a secret language among themselves called Nushu. Written in poems or songs with bamboo pens on paperfolded fans and handkerchiefs, these hidden letters bonded generations of Chinese women in a clandestine support system of sisterhood, hope and survival. Spanning between past and present, from sunken rice fields and rural villages to bustling metropolitan cities, Hidden Letters follows two millennial Chinese women who are connected by their fascination with Nushu and their desire to protect its legacy. Influenced by Nushu’s legacy of female solidarity, the two women struggle to find balance as they forge their own paths in a patriarchal culture steeped in female subservience to men.
Violet Du Feng (China / United States)
Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas
Jean Tsien
Su Kim
Violet Du Feng (China / United States)
Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas (Norway)
Su Kim (United States)
Jean Tsien (United States)
Fish and Bear Pictures LLC
Ten Thousand Images
- As many campaigns on gender equality focus on external policy changes, our campaign intends to hold up women’s internal space where we struggle with gender suppressions secretly and quietly.
- The impact campaign will create opportunities to encourage, promote and support women’s creative expressions through music, poetry, painting, crafts, etc.
- Celebrate women’s art as a means of resistance and resilience. The impact campaign will culminate with the creation of a virtual museum of women’s hidden art with in-person screenings and 'tours show' that will travel through spaces where women and artists gather, from museums, to galleries, to universities to living rooms.
- Create virtual internationally accessible spaces for women : The HIDDEN GALLERIES will include an AR component in which selected artists will be videotaped and will 'appear' with their art pieces allowing the viewer to hear directly about the artist’s inspiration and message attached to their art. The Instagram Live 'Hidden Letters Studio Series' celebrates artists who embody the spirit of Nushu in their work. The series features discussions with powerful feminine artists who inspire women to channel their experience into art.
- Create space and opportunity for international 'hidden screenings', in which the film can provide inspiration for personal and political conversations among women.
- Engage artists to host 'hidden screenings' designed to inspire conversation around the challenges, strengths and resilience of experience.
Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas (Norway)
Organisations
Guerilla Girls
Holly Wong – Installation Artist/
Design Consultant
Robin Morgan – Co-Founder of
Ms. Magazine
U.N. Women
StrongMinds.org
The Coordinating Council for Women in History
National Council of Women New Zealand
Georgia NOW (National Organization for Women)
SeekHer’s #WeHearHer Advocacy Council
Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University
Gendercide
Film funds and agencies
Doc Society
Sundance Institute Documentary
Film Program
Norwegian Film Institute
InMaat Productions
Bird Street Productions
Nika Media
IDA Enterprise Fund
Chicken and Egg Pictures
EST Media
Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Institution Fritt Ord
Viken Filmsenter
Bergesenstiftelsen
Impact partners
InMaat Productions
Perspective Fund
One in a Billion Productions
Broadcasters
Independent Lens
ZDF
ARTE
Funders
Jonathan Logan Foundation
Bergesenstiftelsen
Organisations
Guerilla Girls
Holly Wong – Installation Artist/
Design Consultant
Robin Morgan – Co-Founder of
Ms. Magazine
U.N. Women
StrongMinds.org
The Coordinating Council for Women in History
National Council of Women New Zealand
Georgia NOW (National Organization for Women)
SeekHer’s #WeHearHer Advocacy Council
Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University
Gendercide
Film funds and agencies
Doc Society
Sundance Institute Documentary
Film Program
Norwegian Film Institute
InMaat Productions
Bird Street Productions
Nika Media
IDA Enterprise Fund
Chicken and Egg Pictures
EST Media
Jonathan Logan Family Foundation
Institution Fritt Ord
Viken Filmsenter
Bergesenstiftelsen
Impact partners
InMaat Productions
Perspective Fund
One in a Billion Productions
Broadcasters
Independent Lens
ZDF
ARTE
Funders
Jonathan Logan Foundation
Bergesenstiftelsen