Remembering Della Chen, Director of She Marches in Chinatown

Sage/GOOD DOCS are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden and tragic death of Della Chen, director of She Marches in Chinatown, on February 23rd in Seattle.

The world has lost a beautiful soul and an avant-garde filmmaker. Della Chen, a Seattle native and documentary photographer, was loved by many in the Seattle and documentary film community. She will be forever celebrated and remembered not least for her enduring efforts to break stereotypes about Asian American girls and women.

Della Chen had been telling visual stories for weddings, families, commercial, non-profit, and other assignments for the last 19 years. She was involved in multimedia projects about homeless advocacy and aging out of foster care. Since 2018, Della had been a teaching artist for Pablove Shutterbugs, a non-profit organization that teaches the art of photography to kids living with cancer. She also served on the Board of Directors for Youth in Focus, a free after school program in Seattle amplifying teen voices through photography and arts education. She Marches in Chinatown was her first documentary film project. 

On Della's website, she wrote this official statement about the film: 

When I was a teen in the 80’s I always wanted to be a part of the The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team but regretfully never did. Born and raised a first-generation Seattleite, my family enthusiastically looked forward to the annual Seafair Torchlight Parade. Seeing The Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team perform gave our family this kind of Asian connection to an American tradition. These girls were bad-ass. When my daughter turned 11, I suggested she consider joining the drill team so I could vicariously live through this experience. Her initial reaction was she realized she didn’t have many Asian friends in her school or neighborhood in North Seattle (besides her cousins). As a parent, I started learning more about the drill team’s background and history and as a visual artist I was astounded that this story has never been told in a film. With the rise in Anti-Asian hate and the climate of the world, I want this film to make an impact on this generation, to take better care of our blending cultures and community. Ruby Chow is my inspiration. An unintimidated, American born Chinese woman that cared about her community and made a difference. She, was bad-ass.

Della Chen is survived by her husband, her daughter, and her son.