Esther Eng

Professional Trajectory

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.