- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba,
host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
A man dreams to conquer the world;
does a woman dream any less?
This is a question posed by a female Chinese poet
in a secret language.
A language we will learn all about in tonight's film,
Hidden Letters.
Since the Maoist revolution in 1949,
the country of China
has made slow, incremental progress
toward equal rights for women
but is still considered a patriarchal society.
For centuries, the women in China
were expected to not only obey their husbands and fathers,
but also their sons.
Women were not only uneducated
but often times confined to chamber rooms
and had their feet bound.
So how did the mothers and daughters of China
deal with such suffocating oppression?
They created a secret language known as Nüshu.
Nüshu was developed in China's Hunan Province
around the 9th century
and connected generations of oppressed woman
in rural China.
The covert language allowed woman to write songs and poetry,
which provided hope
and became known throughout the centuries
as the language of female solidarity.
Hidden Letters follows
two modern day Chinese leading ladies,
who feel such a connection to their ancestors
and have such a respect for their struggles,
they are doing everything in their power
not only to protect Nüshu, but to bring it back.
Hidden Letters is directed by Violet Du Feng
and co-directed by Qing Zhao.
This is the Du Feng's second feature-length documentary.
Du Feng draws a parallel between her two female subjects
to women of the past,
not only in their interest in Nüshu
but their experience as women in a male-centric society.
Du Feng says she was inspired to tell this story
after learning that there were
basically no records of literature created by women.
That all changed when they created an entire language.
Not bad, considering they were denied basic education
for centuries.
Feminist and activist, Gloria Steinem calls Hidden Letters
'A deep and wonderful rebellion.'
Through her deeply personal film,
Violet Du Feng joins the sisterhood
of her rebellious Chinese ancestors.
The secret is out.
Hidden Letters starts now
on PBS Wisconsin, your home for independent film.