Karen Cho

Last updated

Karen Cho is a Chinese-Canadian documentary filmmaker from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [1] Her credits include the 2004 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary In The Shadow Of Gold Mountain, documenting the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada; [2] [3] the 2009 InformAction documentary Seeking Refuge; and the 2012 NFB documentary Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada , which was named best documentary at the Whistler Film Festival. [4] Many of her films are political, featuring themes such as feminism [5] and racism. [2] [6]

Contents

Early life and education

Karen Cho is an anglophone [1] fifth-generation Chinese Canadian [7] [6] Her mother is British-Irish, and her father is Chinese-Canadian. [1] After immigrating to Canada from China over a century ago, [1] Cho’s father’s family came to the Chinatowns of Vancouver and Montreal. [8] While Cho herself did not live amongst these communities in her youth, she connected with them through her grandmother, who would take her on trips to the Montreal and Vancouver Chinatowns. [9]

Karen Cho graduated from Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal, Quebec. [1] Here, she learned a variety of filmmaking skills, such as shooting and producing sound. [1]

Personal life

The progressive political views of Cho's films can also be seen in her personal life. For instance, it was through her research for her documentary Status Quo? that Cho decided to redefine herself as a feminist. [10] Cho has also been involved in activism outside of her filmmaking. By participating in a working group against the urban development of Montreal's Chinatown, she advocated for preserving Montreal's Chinatown's cultural and historical significance, as well as the importance of not displacing its community members. [6] [9] In 2022, this work contributed to pressuring the Quebec provincial government to grant heritage status for two culturally relevant buildings, thus protecting them from demolition. [6] Cho also expresses the importance of preserving Chinatowns in her documentary Big Fight in Little Chinatown. [8]

Career

After graduating from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Cho made her first documentary, In The Shadow Of Gold Mountain (2004) at the National Film Board of Canada via a program for emerging filmmakers of colour. [3] Her film visits the Chinatowns of Vancouver and Montreal to explore the history and impact of Canada’s Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. [8] It features interviews with Chinese-Canadians who experienced the passing of the discriminatory laws firsthand, while also showing how Chinese-Canadians continue to feel these impacts in present times. [8]

Cho's second documentary, Seeking Refuge (2009), explores the experiences of five people seeking asylum in Canada, and was produced by Ian Olivieri, a fellow graduate of Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. [1] Olivieri had previously been Cho's peer and was familiar with working with her, as they had collaborated on coursework many times. [1]

Cho's most recent documentary, Big Fight in Little Chinatown (2023), highlights the cultural, economical and social significance of North American Chinatown communities. [5] It explores the issues that they face as a result of gentrification and racism, and how they confront them. [5] It explores Chinatowns in cities such as New York City, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Winnipeg, but its primary focus is on Chinatown in Montreal, Quebec. [5] This film premiered on July 3, and was on a North American screening tour as of August 10, 2023, with most screenings airing in Chinatowns. [9] [11] The Vancouver and Montreal Chinatowns featured in this documentary were key settings and communities in Cho’s earlier film, In the Shadow of Gold Mountain. [8]

Filmography

Directed features
YearTitleDistributor
2004In the Shadow of Gold Mountain National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
2009Seeking Refuge InformAction
2012 Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
2023 Big Fight in Little Chinatown EyeSteelFilm

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Film Board of Canada</span> Public film and digital media producer and distributor

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alanis Obomsawin</span> American-Canadian Abenaki artist and filmmaker

Alanis Obomsawin, is an Abenaki American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues. Obomsawin is a member of Film Fatales independent women filmmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre</span> Canadian documentary film maker

Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre is a Montreal-based filmmaker most notable for her animated documentary films.

Gerry Rogers is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and politician. She was leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party from 2018 until 2019. She served in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as NDP MHA for the electoral district of St. John’s Centre from 2011 to 2019. She became the party's leader after winning the April 2018 leadership election. She resigned as party leader prior to the 2019 provincial election and did not seek re-election.

Julia Kwan is a Canadian screenwriter, director, and occasional producer of her own short and feature films. She has brought a keen sense of the Chinese-Canadian cultural experience to her films. Several of the films were made in conjunction with the National Film Board of Canada. Her feature films include Eve and the Fire Horse (2005), as well as the feature length documentary film Everything Will Be (2014). She is also known for her short film 10,000 Delusions (1999) which screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Daniel Cross a Canadian documentary filmmaker, producer and activist whose films deal with social justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema</span> Film school of Concordia University in Montreal, Canada

The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, a division of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University, is a film school located in Montreal, Quebec. Informally known as MHSoC, the school accepts around 250 students a year for programs in animation, film production and film studies. It is the largest and oldest university-based centre for the study of film, television and media in Canada.

Tracey Penelope Tekahentakwa Deer is a Canadian screenwriter, film director and newspaper publisher based in Kahnawake, Quebec. She has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for Rezolution Pictures, an Aboriginal-run film and television production company. In 2008, she was the first Mohawk woman to win a Gemini Award, for her documentary Club Native. Her TV series Mohawk Girls had five seasons from 2014 to 2017. She also founded her own production company for independent short work.

Pacificanada is a National Film Board of Canada (NFB) Canadian documentary television miniseries about British Columbia which aired on CBC Television in 1975.

<i>Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada</i> Canadian film

Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada is a 2012 documentary film about the state of feminism in Canada, directed by Karen Cho and produced by Ravida Din for the National Film Board of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Guillermo Proto</span> Canadian film director

Carlo Guillermo Proto is a Chilean-Canadian director who was raised in both Quillota, Chile and Mississauga, Ontario. His work focuses on the unique interplay between identity and human experience in relation to issues of geography, ethnicity, and perceived disabilities.

David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton.

Martin Duckworth is a Canadian documentary director and cinematographer who was on staff at the National Film Board from 1963 to 1970 and has continued to work with them as a freelance filmmaker. He was cinematographer on more than 100 films, and directed or co-directed 30, most of them with the NFB.

Caroline Monnet is an Anishinaabe French and Canadian contemporary artist and filmmaker known for her work in sculpture, installation, and film.

<i>Gulîstan, Land of Roses</i> 2016 documentary film by Zayne Akyol

Gulîstan, Land of Roses is a 2016 feature-length documentary film about women guerillas in a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Free Women's Unit, in combat against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), directed by the Kurdish Montreal filmmaker Zaynê Akyol. Shot in Iraqi Kurdistan, the film is co-produced by Montreal's Périphéria Productions, Germany's MitosFilm and the National Film Board of Canada.

The 24th Canadian Film Awards were held on October 3, 1972 to honour achievements in Canadian film.

Jacques Giraldeau (1927-2015) was a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Quebec. He spent most of his career at the National Film Board of Canada and became known primarily for his films about the history of Quebec as seen through the eyes of its artists. He had a fondness for the avant-garde and many of his films are considered to be experimental.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harrison, Ian (May 25, 2023). "Filmmaker Karen Cho debuts new doc, Big Fight in Little Chinatown". Concordia University. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Keung, Nicholas (November 6, 2004). "Documenting Canada's head-tax history; Immigrants from China recall woes for Karen Cho Film won't let us Canadians forget 'skeletons in closet'". Toronto Star. Archived from the original (Abstract) on April 11, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Karen Cho, writer/director (2004). In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (Documentary film). National Film Board of Canada.
  4. ↑ Takeuchi, Craig (December 3, 2012). "Whistler Film Festival 2012: Director Karen Cho on the Status Quo of feminism in Canada". Georgia Straight . Vancouver. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Chua, June (March 8, 2013). "Canada's feminists get face time in NFB film". CBC. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lowrie, Morgan (May 28, 2023). "Montreal filmmaker documents gentrification in Chinatowns across cities". CBC. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Brian D. (December 4, 2012). "Whistler Film Festival scales new heights". Maclean's. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Gee, Dana (April 28, 2023). "Big Fight in Little Chinatown documentary champions shrinking Chinatowns including Vancouver's". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Brend, Yvette (August 10, 2023). "Vancouver's fight to save its struggling Chinatown one of many playing out across Canada". CBC. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  10. ↑ Baute, Nicole (March 7, 2013). "How this documentary filmmaker embraced the 'F' word". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  11. ↑ Canadian Press, The (May 28, 2023). "Montreal filmmaker documents race to save vanishing North American Chinatowns". CTV News. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.