With ‘Birds of Prey,’ Cathy Yan Becomes the First Asian Woman to Direct a Superhero Film1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTasked to direct Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), was rising star Cathy Yan, a discovery out of Sundance. Her work on the DC adventure makes her the first Asian woman to direct a superhero genre film.
Yan is a filmmaker known for her distinct aesthetic, darkly humorous tone and love for subverting typical genre rules and telling unconventional stories. Her debut film, Dead Pigs which she wrote and directed, won the Special Jury Prize for ensemble acting at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, among several other accolades. The film, which is set in Shanghai, came to fruition after she read a news story about 16,000 dead pigs mysteriously floating down the Huangpu River.
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