Esther Eng

Directing·Sep 24, 1914·San Francisco, California, USA

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Esther Eng (September 24, 1914 – January 25, 1970) was an American director and producer; known to be the first woman to have directed Chinese-language films in the United States, as well as South China's first woman director. As an openly lesbian woman, Esther Eng provided social commentary with a focus on the female protagonists in her works. Many of the films she has directed and produced are considered to be lost except for Golden Gate Girl (1941) and Murder in New York Chinatown (1961). First shown in the 37th Hong Kong International Film Festival, the film Golden Gate Girls (2013, dir. S. Louisa Wei) with its title borrowed from one of Esther Eng's works, is a documentary film dedicated to her legacy as a filmmaker and her life.

Film	Credit
Golden Gate Girls2013 · Herself (archive footage)	Herself (archive footage)
Murder Case in Chinatown1961 · Director	Director
Mad Fire, Mad Love1949 · Director	Director
Back Street1948 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
The Lady in the Blue Lagoon1947 · Director	Director
Golden Gate Girl1941 · Director	Director
It's a Women's World1939 · Writer, Director	Writer, Director
A Night of Romance, A Lifetime of Regret1938 · Director	Director
Tragic Love1938 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Ten Thousand Lovers1938 · Director	Director
National Heroine1937 · Director	Director
Heartaches1936 · Producer	Producer