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Chinese Origins (21)
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7 Beats Per MinuteYuqi Kang 2024 1 h 40 minDuring a world-record attempt, freediving champion Jessea Lu blacked out and was lifeless for four minutes. Director Yuqi Kang’s documentary captures the descent of a lifetime, when Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to connection. -
Helen LawJennifer Hodge 1979 3 minA portrait of Mrs. Helen Law, a Chinese immigrant to Canada, as witnessed through the eyes of her son, a first-generation Canadian.
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The Chinese ViolinJoe Chang 2002 8 minIn this animated short, a young girl and her father move from China to Canada, bringing only their Chinese violin along for the journey. As they face the challenge of starting fresh in a new place, the music of the violin connects them to the life they left behind and guides the girl towards a musical future.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
Everything Will BeJulia Kwan 2014 1 h 26 minJulia Kwan’s feature-length documentary Everything Will Be captures a significant moment of time in Vancouver’s Chinatown, with the influx of condos and new, non-Chinese businesses. The film follows a year in the life of several Chinatown denizens, including a 90-year-old Chinese newspaper street vendor and a second-generation tea shop owner, as they navigate this community in flux.
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Earth to MouthYung Chang 2002 41 minFilmed at the Wing Fong Farm in Ontario, this documentary follows the tilling, planting and harvesting of Asian vegetables destined for Chinese markets and restaurants. On 80 acres of land, Lau King-Fai, her son and a half-dozen migrant Mexican workers care for the plants. For Yeung Kwan, her son, the farm represents personal and financial independence. For his mother, it is an oasis of peace. For the Mexican workers, it provides jobs that help support their children back home.
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From Harling PointLing Chiu 2003 40 minThis documentary tells the story of a Chinese cemetery in BC that became a National Heritage site. For Chinese pioneers who died in Canada, Victoria's Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point was a temporary resting place until their bones could be returned home. (Traditional Chinese belief says that the soul of a person who dies in a foreign place wanders lost until their bones are returned home.) This film traces the rich history of the Vancouver Island cemetery from controversy and neglect to its revival as a historic site. Told by those closest to it, the story of Harling Point is a metaphor for Canada, a country still working on making a home for all who live within its borders.
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The Friends of Kwan MingChristine Amber Tang 2002 7 minThis animated short tells the story of Kwan Ming, a man who left China to live and work in the New World. Once at destination, Kwan Ming and three traveling companions look for work but find nothing. When opportunities finally arise, Kwan Ming lets his friends have the best jobs and takes a lowly position as helper to a mean storeowner. But his generosity pays off when his friends help him with a very difficult task.
Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (English and Mandarin Subtitles)2004 43 minKaren Cho, a fifth-generation Canadian of mixed heritage, discovered that half her family wasn't welcome in the country they called home. While Canada encouraged and rewarded immigration from Europe, it imposed laws that singled out the Chinese as unwanted and unwelcome. Cho's film, In the Shadow of Gold Mountain, takes her from Montreal to Vancouver to uncover stories from the last living survivors of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act. This dark chapter in our history, from 1885 until 1947, plunged the Chinese community in Canada into decades of debt and family separation. At the centre of the film are personal accounts of extraordinary Chinese Canadians who survived an era that threatened to eradicate their entire community. Through a rich melding of history, poetry and raw emotion, this documentary sheds light on an era that shaped the identity of generations, with deeply moving testimonials, it reveals the profound ways this history still casts its shadow.
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In the Shadow of Gold MountainKaren Cho 2004 43 minFilmmaker Karen Cho travels from Montreal to Vancouver to uncover stories from the last survivors of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, a set of laws imposed to single out the Chinese as unwanted immigrants to Canada from 1885 to 1947. Through a combination of history, poetry and raw emotion, this documentary sheds light on an era that shaped the identity of generations.
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Mr. Mergler's GiftBeverly Shaffer 2004 30 minIn this short film from Oscar® winner Beverly Shaffer, 9-year-old prodigy Xin Ben takes lessons from Daniel Mergler, a piano teacher at the end of his career. In this remarkable story about a student and her mentor, Xin Ben and Mergler meet 26 times over the course of one year. During this time, Xin Ben illuminates Mergler's final months as an instructor with her youthful talent, and he, in return, lovingly guides her towards a life in music.
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My Name Is Susan YeeBeverly Shaffer 1975 12 minAcademy Award®-winning director Beverly Shaffer offers a unique perspective of downtown Montreal, as seen through the eyes of Susan Yee, a young Chinese-Canadian girl. A perceptive and outspoken young woman, Susan has a sharp eye for adult foibles, and she doesn’t hesitate to use it at home, at play, or at school. Part of the Children of Canada series.
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No Time to StopHelene Klodawsky 1990 29 minKwai Fong Lai is from Hong Kong, Alberta Onyejekwe from Ghana, and Angela Williams from Jamaica. They are immigrants to Canada, visible minorities, and women, a combination designed to make their lives difficult. While Canadian society has yet to accustom itself to its immigrant reality, these strong and resilient women manage to adapt and survive. At home and at work, they speak candidly about the conditions that shape their lives.
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A Passage Beyond FortuneWeiye Su 2022 16 minThrough an intimate archive of the Chow’s family lineage, A Passage Beyond Fortune offers an homage to the culturally significant but buried history of Chinese-Canadian communities in Moose Jaw.
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Quo Vadis, Mrs. Lumb?Ron Kelly 1965 27 minA portrait of Jean Bessie Lumb, a Chinese-Canadian woman. Mrs. Lumb talks candidly about the prejudice she felt during her childhood in Vancouver, her arranged marriage, her occupation, raising children, and intermarriage.
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Roses Sing on New SnowYuan Zhang 2002 7 minIn this animated short, based on a story by Paul Yee, Maylin cooks mouth-watering meals at her father's restaurant in Chinatown, but her father and brothers take all the credit. When a dignitary from China visits and tastes one her dishes, Maylin finally earns recognition.
This film is part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen. -
Return HomeMichelle Wong 1992 29 minFirst-generation Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Michelle Wong returns to her birthplace, St. Paul, Alberta, to get reacquainted with her aging grandparents. Her visit becomes an emotional journey into the past and into herself as she documents their stories, their lives. Return Home touchingly explores intergenerational relations while capturing the spirit and experiences of early Chinese-Canadian immigrants and their role in Canadian history. Also available in a Chinese version.
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A Tribe of OneEunhee Cha 2003 38 minFeaturing archival images and compelling interviews, this documentary captures Rhonda Larrabee's quest to unearth the Indigenous heritage her mother felt forced to hide from her. Now, as proud Chief of the New Westminster Band, she works tirelessly to revitalize the Qayqayt First Nations. Tribe of One was produced as part of Reel Diversity, an initiative organized in partnership with CBC Newsworld.
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A Time to RiseAnand Patwardhan & Jim Monro 1982 39 minOn April 6, 1980, the Canadian Farmworkers Union came into existence. This film documents the conditions among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia that provoked the formation of the union, and the response of growers and labour contractors to the threat of unionization. Made over a period of two years, the film is eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers' movement from the first stirrings of militancy to the energetic canvassing of union members.
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The Third HeavenGeorges Payrastre 1998 48 minThis documentary gives us a glimpse inside the influential but little-known community of Vancouver’s Hong Kong Chinese. Prejudices fall by the wayside as we discover the community's way of life and the vital role it plays in the Canadian and world economy through a moving, intimate portrait of the Lam family, who arrived here in 1991.
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Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in CanadaDora Nipp 1997 51 minA rich and little-known part of Canadian history unfolds through the stories of the first Chinese women to come to Canada and of subsequent generations of Chinese Canadian women. It is an amazing tale of courageous women who left behind their families, knowing they would never see them again and of girls who were shipped off to the New World to marry men they had never met. These are the women who fought against the many forms of racism they faced in Canada while, at the same time, challenging sexism within their own communities. By passing on language, culture, and values to their children, these women defined what it means to be Chinese Canadian. Beautiful old photographs from family albums, the recollections of seven women who grew up in Canada in the first half of the 20th century, and the memories of narrator and director, Dora Nipp, whose grandfather came to Canada in 1881 to build the railway, create a remarkable story of stunning impact.
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Unwanted SoldiersJari Osborne 1999 48 minThis documentary tells the personal story of filmmaker Jari Osborne's father, a Chinese-Canadian veteran. She describes her father's involvement in World War II and uncovers a legacy of discrimination and racism against British Columbia's Chinese-Canadian community. Sworn to secrecy for decades, Osborne's father and his war buddies now vividly recall their top-secret missions behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia. Theirs is a tale of young men proudly fighting for a country that had mistreated them. This film does more than reveal an important period in Canadian history. It pays moving tribute to a father's quiet heroism.
