Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's first female director Chen Wen-min (陳文敏), who also wrote several notable family dramas, has died at the age of 103 in Hawaii, her son said Saturday.
She died on Friday morning, Chen Yen-sheng (陳炎生) told CNA, adding that in the final years of her life she had settled in Hawaii, where she was receiving hospice care provided by three of her grandchildren, who are doctors.
Chen lauded his mother's achievements, saying she got into writing and film directing at a time when she was the sole breadwinner in the family, after her husband got injured.
The children had to chase trains and travel with their mother across the country so that they could show her films in outdoor theaters, Chen said.
"My mother knew no defeat, and she did just everything she could to feed the family," he said.
According to the Ministry of Culture's Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank, Chen Wen-min and her husband opened the Ta Ming Theater (大明戲院) in New Taipei's Sanchong District in 1954, but because it was struggling to make money, she began writing and directing her own films to be screened at the family's cinema.
Her films were mostly centered on family and relationship issues, and they were especially popular with female audiences, the memory bank wrote.
Chen Wen-min's renowned films included "Mang Mang Niao" (茫茫鳥) and "Bitter Love" (苦戀), two dramas about family and romance.
