A still from Butterfly Love directed by Jiang Le which was shown in Dover Street Market Paris as part of the China curation at ASVOFF
Courtesy ASVOFF
The 17th edition of French Diane Pernet’s festival A Shaded View On Fashion Film (ASVOFF)– a four day celebration of fashion, culture and film—took place at Dover Street Market, Paris from November 13—16.
Presided over by designer Willy Chavarria, this year’s edition carried an emotionally charged design language and a spirit of cultural activism driven by Chavarria’s uncompromising stance on inclusivity and identity.
ASVOFF17 featured a lively program of screenings, premiers, talks and performances including a documentary on the backstage photography of Martin Margiela, fashion Advertising from Valentino, and a film set in Willy Chavarria’s hometown directed by Carlos Jaramillo. Pernet’s program also brings together films that explore mental health in fashion, Queer films, student films and climate activism.
Chinese films have been integral since the early days of its programming. “My first trip to Shanghai and Suzhou was in 1987 and since then, I’ve developed collaborations with key figures in the country’s arts scene. That has driven me to offer a platform to talents from China,” Pernet explained. Decades later, photographer Wing Shya’s first fashion film was shown at Pernet’s inaugural festival in 2006. The following year, Pernet—who was writing for the publication Modern Weekly—invited its fashion editor Shaway Yeh to curate a selection of Chinese films.
Pernet also forged an early relationship with artist, director, and costume designer Tim Yip, whom she met in China. His 2008 film Kitchen won ASVOFF’s Best Art Direction prize and this year, Yip returned to the schedule with his short film The Stream, The Tide and The Emptiness.
Diane Pernet, founder of ASVOFF in Paris, with designer Willy Chavarria who acted as the President of ASVOFF17
Studio Alexander Fischer
On the flip side, ASVOFF’s presence in China has been significant with editions at West Bund Art Space, Shanghai Himalayas Museum and The Power Station of Art.
A Curation of Women Filmmakers
This year’s thematic focus foregrounded women filmmakers. “2025’s theme offered a fresh perspective on what women’s issues are in China today and how they’re using creativity and new cinematic languages in fashion storytelling to address them,” Pernet said. “It’s entirely fresh.”
The 9 film line-up, which was powered by the Shanghai concept store ENG, included Dropped Into by Jiaxi Wang; When Sound Becomes Flesh directed by Ting Liu; Gu Zhichao’s Solemate; Butterfly Love from Jiang Lei; Ruiqi Zhang’s short film Underwater; The Hot Pot by Yinzhao Yi; Jiayu Duan’s The Dinner; Soul Out of Order directed by Maomaoyu and About Time from AJ Duan.
The China jury featured Sherry Huang, CEO of ENG which has built a name for trailblazing collaborations (most recently with Walter Van Beirendonck); Laura Darmon, founder of the creative agency Envision; filmmaker Ziao Dan; and creative director Victoria Rebelo. Guest curator Shan Hua—a video artist based at the Saraband Foundation—explained: “Collectively, the selected films presented a multifaceted portrait of women through diverse cinematic approaches.”
Whether through experimental works (Butterfly Love), narrative storytelling (Underwater), stop-motion animation (The Hotpot), or fantastical shorts (Dropped In), Hua said these works reveal not only the vulnerability and resilience of the women on screen, but also the “creativity and expressive power of the Chinese women directors behind the camera.”
The top award went to Gu Zhichao’s Soulmate filmed during 2023 and devised by Chinese KOL Mia Kong, who flew to Paris for the premiere. The fly-on-the-wall style documentary follows 5 women—including Paris-based designer Didu—as they navigate lives considered to be “non-mainstream” in China.
Fashion KOL and stylist Mia Kong who’s film Soulmate won the China curation at ASVOFF17 in Paris at Dover Street Market
christian tarro toma
“One day I was having a casual chat with a group of friends and realised that we were all living these so-called ‘non-mainstream’ lives which is often frowned upon by Chinese society,” said the fashion stylist, model, and creative. Kong pointed out the expectations of Chinese women today. “As a woman growing up in China, I’ve always been taught by family and wider society that you need to be a ‘good girl’ essentially. But what if a girl wants to just be a world traveler, a punk, a tattoo artist, or a skater?”
The film’s crew consisted of Kong’s close friends and the interviewees are women from her own personal circle of friends. Soulmate is a set piece for these women who, despite the hurdles, live uncompromising lives. “I thought they deserved to be recognized,” she said. “And it could be fun to show the diversity of female lifestyles.”
Exploring LGBTQ+ Narratives and Internal Conflict
LGBTQ+ stories—still often taboo for women in China—also surfaced strongly. Jiang Lei’s Butterfly Lovers left an impression on curator Hua. “Through the combination of shadow puppetry, visual effects, and theatrical elements, Lei uses a fantastical lens to portray the subtlety of female emotions, weaving in references to the ancient Liang Zhu legend—one of China’s earliest narratives involving same-sex love.”
Another standout, Soul Out of Order, is set in a clinical laboratory and depicts a symbolic confrontation between two selves—capturing the internalized pressures many women face. Director Maomaoyu said she felt “two conflicting selves constantly battling inside her” during production, a tension that shaped the film’s aestheticized violence and emotional depth.
Finally, Jiayu Duan’s The Dinner reflected her experiences of growing up in China but living between the US and the UK. Duan, who also flew in for the event, studied fashion at Central Saint Martins, after which her practice developed into performance and then latterly, direction. “Film allows me to show what happens behind the surface—how bodies interact, how textiles carry feelings, and how relationships shift within a space,” she explained at the Dover Street Market venue. The work uses a simple dinner table to explore closeness, silence and negotiation within a domestic setting. “I wanted to show how the unseen emotional dynamics inside a family space can become visible,” she added.
Entries for ASVOFF18 to take place in November 2026 are now open.
Mia King (center) and guests at ASVOFF at Dover Street Market Paris
Studio Alexander Fischer
