CSE 2023

Big Fight in Little Chinatown

Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America. Coast to Coast the film follows Chinatown communities resisting active erasure. 

SYNOPSIS

All across the globe, Chinatowns are under threat of disappearing – and along with them, the rich history of communities who fought from the margins for a place to belong. Set against the backdrop of the unfolding COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America. Coast to Coast the film follows Chinatown communities resisting active erasure. From the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail in New York, Montreal’s fight against developers swallowing up the most historic block of their Chinatown, big box chains and gentrification forces displacing Toronto’s community, to a legacy Chinatown business holding steadfast in Vancouver, Big Fight in Little Chinatown is the story of community resistance and resilience in a neighborhood under pressure.

Theme(s): , Culture, Democracy, Economy, Racism, Social struggle, Urbanity

DETAILS

Director | , Karen Cho
Year | , 2022
Country | , Canada
Duration | 88 minutes
Original language | , English
Subtitles | , French
Image | Joshua Frank, Nathaniel Brown
Sound mixing | Cory Rizos
Music | David Drury
Editing | Ryan Mullins
Production | Bob Moore, Daniel Cross, Katie McKay, Mila Aung-Thwin, Valerie Shamash, Vee Di Gregorio
Animation | Fred Casia

DIRECTOR

Photo

Karen Cho

SEE COMPLETE PROFILE

Karen Cho is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker known for her socio-political documentaries. Karen’s first film In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (2004) explored the legacy of the Chinese Head Tax, Exclusion Act and redress movement. Karen’s other films include the Gemini-Nominated Seeking Refuge (2009) a film on refugees in Canada and Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada (2012) that won Best Documentary at the Whistler Film Festival and launched in over 67 community screenings across the country. Karen’s TV work has touched on subjects like Indigenous health and wellness, Japanese Canadian internment, Quebecois cuisine, Vancouver’s downtown east side, and artist activists around the world. In 2018 Karen was nominated for a Best Directing Canadian Screen Award for her work on CBC’s Interrupt This Program.

CAREER

DOC NYC · RIDM · Festival du film ReelAsian · Blue Sky Film Festival

PAST SCREENINGS

SCREENING 1

3 July 2023 at 21h15

Place Sun-Yat-Sen

Discussion with filmmaker Karen Cho will follow the screening.