'Montages of a Modern Motherhood' digs into postpartum challenges

HONG KONG -- Film director Oliver Chan Siu Kuen says she "used to be one of those people who blamed the mothers when their kids wouldn't stop crying in the subway." But after becoming a parent herself, she "came to know that there is not much that the mother can control."

Those limits of control and the hardships many mothers face are the focus of Chan's film "Montages of a Modern Motherhood," one of a selection of movies exploring feminist themes at the recent Tokyo International Film Festival. The Hong Kong filmmaker told Nikkei Asia that she was inspired by her own experiences and wanted viewers of her second feature to see the realities of being a mom.