How does community knowledge – of place, of people, of food – get transferred between generations? Find out how a younger generation is using film as a means to bear witness to a rapidly changing Chinatown, and in a way, give gratitude to the people and places of a neighbourhood.
On Saturday May 10th, Centre A will host the premieres of four films created by emerging filmmakers.
This screening is part of the Living Language Studio project, curated by Kathryn Gwun-Yeen Lennon, for the exhibition M’GOI/ DO JEH 唔該/多謝: SITES, RITES AND GRATITUDE, which runs from April 25-June 14th.
Changing Chinatown: A Community Film Screening
Saturday May 10, 3pm-5pm
Centre A, 229 E. Georgia Street
Chinatown, Vancouver
Free admission – Tea will be served and a discussion with filmmakers will follow the screenings.
About the Films:
Saving History: Activists Behind the Ho Sun Hing Printing Company Project
Created by: Jeremia Chow, Martin Lay, Siobhan Quinn, Lisa Reid and Seara Yoshida
(UBC students, 12 minutes)
This film shines a spotlight on the work of community activists of the Ho Sun Hing Project. Their common goal of preserving the history and culture of the Ho Sun Printing Company shop and Chinatown has brought them together to start a community project. While these community activists come from different backgrounds, their story of migration has in some ways had an effect on their involvement in this project.
Behind the Walls of 439
Created by: Bay Leaf Productions – Gloria Ching, Sarah Marsh, Carmen Ma, Alleris Gillham, Laura Heavens and Darian Parrish
(BCIT students, 2014, 5:30 minutes)
A few months have passed since the emergency demolition of a building at 451 Powell Street, across from Oppenheimer Park, in Vancouver. The demolition caused damage to the neighbouring building, 439 Powell Street, the Ming Sun-Uchida building. As a result, residents of 439 Powell St had to be evacuated immediately. “Behind the Walls of 439″ take a close look at what happened with the building and controversies between the City of Vancouver and the Ming Sun Benevolent Society.
After Sunset: Nightlife in Vancouver’s Chinatown
Created by: Victor Ngo, Alexander Reid, Tammy Kwan, Shaina Somers, Fiona Li and Claire Peng
(UBC students, 2014, 14 minutes)
Vancouver’s Chinatown has a rich history of a vibrant nightlife. During the 1960s and ’70s, it was characterized by exuberant and colourful neon signs, restaurants, cinemas, and nightclubs such as the Marco Polo Restaurant. As a result, Chinatown formed an ethnically diverse and unique part of the city’s social scene. In recent years, the Chinatown community has worked towards the goal of nurturing new residential and commercial growth in the historic neighbourhood.
What role can promoting options for nightlife, particularly for youth, play in supporting neighbourhood revitalization and maintaining a complete community for both young and old? What insights can we gain from cosmopolitan nightlife scenes in cities such as Hong Kong? After Sunset: Nightlife in Vancouver’s Chinatown explores how new businesses and initiatives including the Chinatown Night Market, Fortune Sound Club, and Bao Bei are contributing to a modern take on nightlife in Chinatown. How do these recent developments contribute to neighbourhood culture, heritage preservation, economic development, and life in a multicultural Vancouver?
Cooking (Local + Organic) Wontons with G-Ma
Created by: Bard Suen and Julian Fok
(hua foundation, 2014, 5 minutes)
In an intergenerational cooking workshop facilitated by Jessica Van and hua foundation, Grandma Van teaches an enthusiastic group of youth how to cook wontons with local and organic ingredients. Filmed as an instructional music video, learn how to prepare and wrap wontons G-Ma style.
Cooking (Local + Organic) Wontons with G-Ma is an ode to our elders who taught us the meaning of food and the powerful role it plays in our families and communities. The Choi Project is an initiative of hua foundation—learn more at huafoundation.org.
Friends of 439 Powell 