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SPEAKER_02: This Pride Month, Womanica is brought to you exclusively by Mercedes-Benz. Together, we're honoring people who've expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the performing arts. Mercedes-Benz embraces the freedom of individual expression and continues to support and stand with the LGBTQIA Plus community. Listen all month long as we share stories of proud individuals whose authentic expression in their lives and bodies of work have challenged norms, and are driving society forward. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. In honor of Pride this month, we're highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen. Our star today was a groundbreaking transnational filmmaker whose work was only recently rediscovered. Let's talk about Esther Ng. Esther was born Ng Khun Ha on September 24th, 1914. She was one of 10 children born to a Chinese American family that settled in San Francisco, California. Eventually, she'd adopt the more westernized name Esther Ng. Esther's young life coincided with the Chinese Exclusion Act which limited immigration from China. Faced with this xenophobia, the Chinese community in San Francisco experienced a resurgence of patriotism for their native country. As a result, Esther grew up surrounded by a rich tradition of Chinese language theater and film. The 1933 documentary, The Battle of Shanghai, had a particularly impactful role in young Esther's life. The documentary portrayed the Chinese resistance to a 1932 Japanese military attack on Shanghai. Deeply moved by the film, Esther's father decided to start a film production company with his friend. Due to her love of theater and connection with local Chinese actors, Esther convinced her father to list her as a producer on their 1936 breakout film, Heartaches. The production shot for eight days in a studio in Los Angeles and was sold as the first Cantonese singing talking picture made in Hollywood. Thanks to its strong patriotic undertones, Heartaches was a huge success around China. Esther traveled to Hong Kong to promote the film and from there, her career took off. At just 22 years old and without any major studio backing her, Esther set out to direct her next major project, National Heroine. National Heroine portrayed a woman in the Chinese military fighting for her country alongside her male counterparts. When the film aired in 1937, it was very well received. The Guangdong Federation of Women's Rights awarded Esther with a certificate of merit for the film's portrayal of Chinese womanhood. Esther went on to make several films during her time in China, all of which featured female protagonists. She also co-wrote one of her films called It's a Woman's World. It was billed as the first film made in Hong Kong to feature an all-female cast of 36 actresses. Despite Esther's youth and lack of industry experience, it seemed that very few questioned the young director, writer, and producer. In addition to her sparse credentials, Esther's appearance and personal life were also surprisingly unchallenged for the time. Esther wore traditionally men's clothing and spoke openly about her lesbian relationships. Her sexuality was so embraced in the press that in a 1938 publication of the Singtao Daily News, a reporter referred to Esther as living proof of the possibility of same-sex love. Other magazines of the time coily referred to her romantic partners, often the leads of her films, as her bosom friend or good sister. By the end of the 1930s, the conflict between China and Japan had heightened, and out of concern for her safety, Esther returned home to San Francisco. Without missing a beat, she dove right back into filmmaking. In 1941, she released Golden Gate Girl, making her the first woman to direct a Chinese-language film in the US. The following year, she started her own production company, Silverlight. By the end of the decade, Esther's films were pushing new boundaries, featuring interracial relationships in Too Late for Springtime and Mad Fire, Mad Love. With the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, many Chinese actors returned to Hong Kong. Working with a much smaller talent pool, Esther's film career declined. Then, in the 1950s, she pivoted. Esther relocated to New York and became a restaurateur. Her first restaurant, Bo Bo's, was a huge hit. The famed New York Times food critic, Craig Claiborne, once wrote, "'The only trouble with Bo Bo's is its extreme popularity. "'At times, it's next to impossible to obtain a table.'" Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Esther opened five restaurants in New York. She was frequently seen with customers, schmoozing in her masculine suits and cropped haircuts. It's rumored her ex-girlfriends ran some of the restaurants. On January 25th, 1970, at the age of 55, Esther died of cancer in New York City. Tragically, most of Esther's films were lost to history. It wasn't until 1995, 25 years after her death, that a film critic for Variety came across her name in the credits of Golden Gate Girl. It sparked an inquiry into Esther's larger body of work. The full impact of Esther's contribution to both American and Chinese cinema is still being understood. A documentary film that tells Esther's story came out in 2013. It's called Golden Gate Silver Light. All month, we're highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen. For more information, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite actress, to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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