From behind the counters of Halifax’s Chinese restaurants, kids and their parents reflect on family, sacrifice and the work that shaped their identities.
For many children of Halifax’s Chinese restaurateurs, the family restaurant was more than a business. It was a second home, a classroom and a workplace. Through intimate conversations and personal memories, Restaurant Kids explores the sacrifices made by immigrant parents and the resilience passed on to the next generation. As stories of long hours, shared meals and everyday acts of care unfold, the film forms a moving portrait of growing up between cultures, while forging a sense of identity all its own.
Produced as part of REDEFINED, a collaboration between the National Film Board of Canada and the Toronto International Film Festival supporting the next generation of Canadian and Indigenous filmmakers.
Restaurant Kids, Sylvia Mok, provided by the National Film Board of Canada