Chen Bo'er (; 1907–1951) was a prolific and revolutionary left-wing Chinese actress and filmmaker in the 1930s and 40s before her premature death in 1951. She began her activism work in Shanghai, writing essays for magazines and newspapers, where she expounded her beliefs about feminism, women's rights, and national salvation. It was also in Shanghai that Chen became a notable celebrity, starring in films and theatre productions and advocating for leftwing pro-communist revolution. In Yan'an, then de facto capital of Communist where she established a film studio backed by the Communist government, she produced anti-Japanese theatre and drama performances, and assisted in screenwriting, directing, and producing. She was the first female director endorsed by the Communist government. She later moved to Changchun to work as Party secretary of the Northeast Film Studio, where she was a pioneer of Chinese animation. In Beijing, Chen was made art department director of the Central Film Bureau. She advocated for the establishment of the People's Republic of China's first national film school, the Beijing Film Academy. Chen Bo'er was an ardent feminist, whose work paved the way for women filmmakers and revolutionaries in China.
Early life
Chen, née Chen Shunhua (), was born in the small town of Anbu, Chaozhou County, Guangdong Province. Though Chen's grave marks her birth year as 1910, her biographer Wang Yongfang uses the year 1907 based on Chen's personal archives. She was born to a wealthy family, and was deeply loved by both her father and concubine mother, but greatly disliked by her grandmother and father's first wife. Nonetheless, her elite status allowed her to go – as was customary for children of wealthy families – to a larger city for high school.
Leaving behind Anbu, Chen studied in Nanjing and Shanghai, where she learned to speak English on top of her native Cantonese and middle school Mandarin. Despite being a good student, excelling especially in the arts and essay writing, Chen was expelled in 1927 for protesting against the Shanghai Massacre.
Chen was encouraged by leftist ex-cadet friends, Mei Gongyi and Ren Posheng, to go back to school, and in 1928 Chen returned to Shanghai where she joined the Shanghai Arts College. It was here that Chen became a member of the Communist-organized and leftist Shanghai Art Drama Troupe (SADT). She graduated from Shanghai Art University in 1929.
In 1937, Chen joined the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). Chen would go on to play central roles in China's early socialist film sphere.
Writing career
Before becoming an integral part of Shanghai, Yan'an, and the Northeast's revolutionary film worlds, Chen made her living writing essays which expressed her beliefs in feminism and socialism through the late-1920s and early-30s. Chen wrote for the well-read newspaper, the Shanghai Daily (The Shenbao), on her patriotic and feminist positions, as well as other magazines.