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The Chinese-Canadian Experience (Ages 15-17)

10 films
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Resilience and perseverance are common elements found in the experiences of the Chinese diaspora. Chinese-Canadians, in particular, have had to navigate various levels of politicized racism, emotional turmoil and financial hardship in their adopted country. What emerges from each of these films and the stories they tell is the dignity, good humour and resourcefulness of their subjects. Pour visionnez cette sélection en français, cliquez ici. Films in This Playlist Include Have You Eaten? Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada In the Shadow of Gold Mountain Everything Will Be Unwanted Soldiers The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam …

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The Chinese-Canadian Experience (Ages 15-17)

Resilience and perseverance are common elements found in the experiences of the Chinese diaspora. Chinese-Canadians, in particular, have had to navigate various levels of politicized racism, emotional turmoil and financial hardship in their adopted country. What emerges from each of these films and the stories they tell is the dignity, good humour and resourcefulness of their subjects.

Pour visionnez cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.

Films in This Playlist Include
Have You Eaten?
Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada
In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
Everything Will Be
Unwanted Soldiers
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
Return Home
Earth to Mouth
Window Horses
Jia

Playlist

  • Have You Eaten?
    Have You Eaten?
    Lina Li 2020 5 min
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  • Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada
    Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada
    Dora Nipp 1997 51 min
    A 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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  • In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
    In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
    Karen Cho 2004 43 min
    Filmmaker 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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  • Everything Will Be
    Everything Will Be
    Julia Kwan 2014 1 h 26 min
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  • Unwanted Soldiers
    Unwanted Soldiers
    Jari Osborne 1999 48 min
    This 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.
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  • The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
    The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
    Ann Marie Fleming 2003 1 h 28 min
    This feature documentary offers a whimsical tour through the history of Chinese magicians and performers in the Western world. Long Tack Sam was an internationally renowned Chinese acrobat and magician who overcame isolation, poverty, cultural and linguistic barriers, extreme racism and world wars to become one of the most successful acts of his time. Filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming travels the globe searching for the story of her great-grandfather, the cosmopolitan Long Tack Sam. A celebration of the spirit of Long Tack Sam's magic and art, this richly textured first-person road movie is an exhilarating testament to his legacy and a prismatic tour through the 20th Century.
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  • Return Home
    Return Home
    Michelle Wong 1992 29 min
    First-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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  • Earth to Mouth
    Earth to Mouth
    Yung Chang 2002 41 min
    Filmed 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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  • Window Horses
    Window Horses
    Ann Marie Fleming 2016 1 h 29 min
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  • Jia
    Jia
    Weiye Su 2020 10 min
    A young Chinese-Canadian couple is visiting family in Wuhan, epicentre of the virus, at the very moment the pandemic is declared. Interviewing his subjects in a novel socially distanced mode, director Weiye Su explores the culturally specific concept of Jia—an idea evoking family or home that acquires sharp new meaning during COVID times.
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