RIOT IN VANCOUVER SHORT FILM SCREENINGS – The Back Page (1907)

Curator: Nilesh Patel

The Back Page

This series of videos commemorates the 1907 Anti-Asian riots. On September 7, a white supremacist crowd marched to Vancouver city hall to demand a White Canada. Many proceeded to attack Chinatown and then the Japanese community around Powell Street.
The riots were not only a landmark in the rise of racism in Canada, they signaled the beginning of systematic federal intervention to prohibit Asian immigration to Canada.
From stereotyping to empowering, this series of videos reflect the relationships and stories of the North American Asians beyond the ‘reality’ we have always been told. This series depicts the hidden, the un-known, and the greater history of the Asian people of this land, along with the strength in the past that is carried on in the lively
communities of today. Nilesh Patel, programmer

Nilesh C. Patel is a Vancouver based filmmaker who believes in telling the true stories of us all coming together. Nilesh has won awards nationally and inter-nationally for his films which have played in festivals and on television around the world. Nilesh splits his time between teaching film through the non-profit, Projections: Film and
TV for street-involved youth and creating his own works for public display. Currently Nilesh is traveling to screenings of his award-winning
feature documentary, Brocket 99 – Rockin The Country while also developing his next two films, Be A Man, another documentary, and Himalaya & Kumbaya Come to Funky Town, his feature drama debut.

1907 – The Back Page
Running time: 86 minutes

*Fine China Dir. Ho Tam (8:30 min.)
Fine China is a video exploration of China’s past and present with a different take on issues within and outside a country of growing influence in the present day.

*The Yellow Pages Dir. Ho Tam (7:45 min.)
A satirical and playful exploration of the Asian experience in North America, the video roams from past to present, from Chinese railway
workers to the 1997 Hong Kong Handover to China

*Dirty Laundry Dir. Richard Fung (30:30 min.)
On a train trip across the Rockies, Roger Kwong learns of the untold story of his great-grandfather?s sexuality. The film reveals how present day assumptions blur the diversity of the past.

-Refugee Class of 2000, Dir. Paul Wong (4 min.)
Inspired by the recent arrival of refugees on the BC Coast and by the racially motivated intolerance shown to the Chinese boat people,
Refugee Class of 2000 highlights the statements of 34 high school students from the working class and culturally diverse Charles Tupper high school in East Vancouver.

-Chinaman’s Peak: Walking The Mountain Dir. Paul Wong (25 min.)
This video documents the Chinese ritual tradition of “Walking the Mountain” and takes place on a mountain in the Canadian Rockies. This ritual provides continuity between past and present in Chinese culture and this video honours the memory of the turn-of-the-century Chinese railway workers.

Yellow Brotherhood Dir. Tadashi H. Nakamura (19 min.)
Distributor: The Center for Asian American Media
An evocative look at the 30-year evolution of the Asian American self-help group Yellow Brotherhood. The film provides insight into
the past and future while mixing nostalgia with a great soundtrack.
-Distributor: Video Out, Vancouver
*Distributor: V Tape, Toronto