Subscribe

ProjectsRefuge Ten Thousand Roses In the Shadow of Gold MountainDiasopra Eve Love is a Four-Letter WordSyndicated LifeThe Cardboard Spaceship

Diaspora - Director's Journal :

Synopsis
Production Info
Photos & Clips
Director's Journal

Diaspora (in development)
Supported By : Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ)
Writer/Director/Producer: Karen Cho

Director's Statement:
The idea for Diaspora began with an inner questioning and exploration of my own identity as a Canadian of Chinese/British descent and my need to explore and exhibit that identity through my work as a filmmaker.

Much of my work has brought me into direct contact with different diasporic groups in Canada and abroad. My work on the series “Past Lives,” featuring Canadians in search of their ancestral roots, allowed me to travel to several countries and witness people connecting with their pasts. I realized that although many diasporic communities have been in Canada for generations, they still feel connected to their homelands and culture.While making “In the Shadow of Gold Mountain,” a film that talks of the legacy of the Head Tax and Exclusion Act, I discovered that the experience of the Chinese diaspora, and the community’s struggle to be accepted into Canadian society lead to the formation of a new cultural identity; a hyphenated identity that is specifically Canadian-Chinese.

These experiences got me thinking about my own hyphenated Canadian identity and my attachment to my own ancestral roots. I was interested in how notions of actual or imagined memory (passed down through the stories of family members and ancestors) can influence one’s personal sense of identity. I felt the need to “return” to my roots. Although I had never been there, I somehow felt that China held a key to part of what made me, me.  

Last fall, I took a trip to China and India. Part of the trip was purely touristic, part was to collect images and footage for the research of this film, and part was to, in someway, connect with my ancestral roots. I had the opportunity to travel to Taishan County in the province of Guangdong. This county is the root of the first Chinese diaspora to Canada, and the home of my ancestors. I had the chance to journey to my grandmother’s ancestral village; a place where no one from our Canadian family has been to since 1929. I also took part in an intimate “Bay Shan” ceremony at the Cho family ancestral tomb. The experience was amazing and had a profound affect on me. Somehow I had grasped a deeper understanding of my own identity by traveling to a tiny village on the other side of the world.

I’d like to use this trip as the departure for the film.  My journey back to my “homeland” and exploration of how my roots influence my identity and work as a filmmaker will set the backdrop for the film’s journey across the Canadian landscape and into the identities being explored in the works of other Canadian artists. Footage of my personal journey back “home” will be delicately woven around the stories of the main subjects allowing the audience to feel that they have embarked on the journey with me.

By approaching the film from this personal place, the audience will gain a deeper connection to the story and also become more implicated in the film’s evolution and journey.