RIOT IN VANCOUVER SHORT FILM SCREENINGS – Forces of Migration(1967)

Curator: Cindy Mochizuki

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This series of short videos is a compilation that brings together experimental and independent video work that utilizes video as a form of political expression that took rise in the 1960’s since the introduction of the Sony Portapak and the new wave of marginalized narratives that emerged through the increased trans-Pacific migration resulting from the 1967 Immigration Act. Video became both an artistic and political tool to articulate marginalized histories that were not being conveyed within the larger context of Canadian multiculturalism.  Despite the assumption of ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ that may be conveyed through such political gestures; an entire terrain of invisible and diasporic histories needed a vehicle to contest how migrant histories were being represented in the mainstream media.  As a result, independent video by artists of colour took to personal/political documentary form as a means to express narratives that were geographically placed in memory; the memory of destroyed homelands, land theft, racism, discrimination and other forces of migration that persuaded people to migrate to Canada.

Sea in the Blood, 23 min, Richard Fung
A contemplative and heartfelt personal essay about living in the shadow of illness. Multiple layers of image and text are used to reflect on personal history.

How To Make Kimchi according to my Kun-Umma, 18 min, Samuel Kiehoon Lee
Bong Ja Lee is the filmmaker’s Kun-Umma (auntie) and she makes for a delightful subject in this short digital documentary. The film delivers not only a recipe for kimchi, but also tells the story of an immigrant woman juggling with being a grandmother, a leader in the Korean-Canadian community, and an aunt to her pestering nephew that is attempting to document her life.

White Wash, 10 min, Kira Wu
Influenced by the only entry point into her reality, a young Asian immigrant girl goes to extreme measures to assimilate. The narrative centres around the impact of a 1970?s television commercial for laundry whitener well known to North American audiences.

A Spiritual Land Claim, 27min, Dorothy Christian
A rich visualscape coupled with a rich soundscape, with very little narrative, “a spiritual land claim” tells the story of one dispossessed Indigenous person who was affected on many levels by external forces, i.e. Colonization, internal violence, white foster homes and addictions

The Shirt, 6min, Dana Claxton
A visual study of a white shirt that gets washed ashore, bringing with it concepts of time, money, the written word, church and oppression.

English Lesson, 3min, Shani Mootoo
“Let’s say ah, not ae…” In this faux instructional video, an Indo-Canadian teacher helps the audience with its English pronounciation. This video brings into focus linguistic notions of ?right and wrong?, and debates about colonization of language.

Total:  87 minutes