Esther Eng

Esther Eng (born Ng Kam-ha; – January 25, 1970) was an American film director and the first female director to direct Chinese-language films in the United States. Eng made four feature films in America, and five in Hong Kong. She was recognized as a female pioneer who crossed the boundaries of race, language, culture and gender.

Early life Esther Eng was born in San Francisco on September 24, 1914. Eng's grandparents originally came to America from Toy Shan (Taishan) county in southern China's Guangdong province. This was followed up by a film shot in the Hawaiian Islands titled Mad Fire Mad Love about a romance between a mixed-race woman and a Chinese sailor. The film was directed by Louisa Wei and was inspired by the 2006 discovery of Eng's photo albums dated between the years 1928 and 1948. During the production of the film, Wei found more albums but no audio or film records of Eng.

S. Louisa Wei's 2014 feature documentary, Golden Gate Girls, compares the media representation of Eng with that of Dorothy Arzner. Judith Mayne, the author of Directed by Dorothy Arzner, is interviewed in the documentary, saying, "I love the fact that history of woman filmmakers now would include Dorothy Arzner and Esther Eng as two of the real exceptions, who proved it was entirely possible to build a successful film career without necessarily being a part of mainstream identity."

Filmography Sum Hun (Heartaches) (1936) (producer) National Heroine (1937) Ten Thousand Lovers (1938) Tragic Love (a.k.a. Storm of Envy) (1938) A Night of Romance, A Lifetime of Regret (a.k.a. Husband and Wife for One Night) (1938) It's a Women's World (1939) (co-directed with Lu Si) Golden Gate Girl (1941) The Fair Lady in the Blue Lagoon (a.k.a. Blue Jade) (1947) Back Street (a.k.a. Too Late for Springtime) (1948) Mad Fire, Mad Love (1949) Murder in New York Chinatown (1961) (co-directed with Wu Peng)