6:30 pm Monday 28 May 2012

One Big Hapa Family, 2010, 47 min & Tailor Made, 2007, 44 min

a BC double feature for Asian Heritage Month!

One Big Hapa Family After a realization at a family reunion, half Japanese-Canadian filmmaker, Jeff Chiba Stearns, embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married inter-racially after his grandparents' generation. This feature live action and animated documentary explores why almost 100% of all Japanese-Canadians are marrying inter-racially, the highest out of any other ethnicity in Canada, and how their mixed children perceive their unique multiracial identities. Pg more

plus: Tailor Made: Chinatown's Last Tailors This Vancouver-made film follows 80-something brothers Bill & Jack Wong for one year as they face the reality that they are getting too old to run the little tailor shop their father opened in 1913. And letting go isn't easy. With tailoring a dying trade, finding someone to take over the family business has proven difficult, but Bill refuses to give up. He tries a couple of young hopefuls, but can they keep this almost century-old tradition alive?

Director Len Lee says "The story of Modernize Tailors has always meant something to me, but I was really touched by Bill and his personal journey in the film." Producer and co-director Marsha Newbery adds "This isn't just a story about a tailor shop. Bill's story is a reminder to us all to live life to the fullest and do what you love doing every day." Pg more

The Globe and Mail declared it: "One of the sweetest, most tender docs in years, Tailor Made is more than just a record of the closing of a long-time Vancouver landmark business. It's a beautifully fashioned story of passion, tradition, family and letting go."