Xie Caizhen
Xie Caizhen was a Chinese actress, writer and film director recognised to be the first woman in China to direct a film. Other than her appearance in three films and her one directorial role, little is known about her life prior to or following her film career. However, she had a sister, a father who did support her career, and was born in Hankou, in January, sometime in the 1900s. The film she directed and which she also wrote and appeared in was named An Orphan's Cry .
Xie was active during the 1920s and 1930s silent era of film and originally worked at the Shanghai Shadow Play Company which was established in 1920 by early Chinese film director Dan Duyu. Here she was cast in two films by Duyu, Return to the Hometown and Little Master .
Later she is said to have worked for a short-lived production company run by director Li Jiran called Nanxing Film Company where she gained her directorial debut. The film which was the company's only feature produced during its lifetime was called An Orphan's Cry and was a melodrama involving a dysfunctional family. Upon the film's release it is said to have caused a sensation among audiences owing to the director being female and the film's complex storyline.
Xie Caizhen disappeared from newspaper headlines after 1926, however a tiny section on the Da gong wan bao Newspaper from 1944 has a section about her.
Her husband was Y.C Zai.