Confronting Silence: Family Reunification and Mental Health in the Filipino Diaspora in Inay

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Confronting Silence: Family Reunification and Mental Health in the Filipino Diaspora in Inay

Thea and cinematographer Jeremiah Reyes—a Filipino husband-and-wife team—turn the camera on themselves in Inay (Tagalog for “Mama”) to explore the cultural and psychological impacts on children whose mothers left the Philippines out of economic necessity. Thea begins a thoughtful inquiry into the experiences of family separation by interviewing her husband, Jeremiah, and her best friend, Shirley. Through her explorations, Inay intertwines personal narratives with historical context to shed light on the impact of migration policies created by the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). As a viewer, I stumbled with Thea as she navigates the pain and trauma her partner and friend have experienced through migration and mental illness and challenges the notion of normalcy within Filipino immigrant experiences. 

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A deep dive into Seagrass reveals the intergenerational trauma that lingers within Japanese-Canadian communities

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A deep dive into Seagrass reveals the intergenerational trauma that lingers within Japanese-Canadian communities

There’s something quite eerie about the image of seagrass floating in the darkness of the deep ocean. Imagine yourself drifting in the middle of open water as it moves beneath you, unbeknownst to when it will reach out to graze your bare skin. It’s a haunting image, and it’s one that lingers.

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Our World As We See It: VIFF Modes 1 Review

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Our World As We See It: VIFF Modes 1 Review

You’ve probably heard that life imitates art. Well, when art imitates life, it’s mimesis. The term is a philosophical position that understands art as constantly imitating the world around itself. It’s difficult to separate art from the world's current affairs, and with all that's going on in the world, it’s becoming almost impossible to do so. 

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Finding the Surreal in Everyday Life: A Review of Modes 2 at VIFF

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Finding the Surreal in Everyday Life: A Review of Modes 2 at VIFF

“I don’t like realism.” This may be the sentiment explicitly expressed by the main character of Leonardo Martinelli’s Pássaro Memória, but it is also the common thread upon which the films of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF)’s Modes 2 construct their narratives and visual styles. Adept at taking images or situations common to everyday life and lingering on them in a way that crosses over into the unfamiliar and strange, these films allow us an intimacy rarely explored in routine living that, here, borders on the surreal.

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An Interview with Jason Karman, Director of Golden Delicious

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An Interview with Jason Karman, Director of Golden Delicious

With views of mountains, alleyways paved between detached homes in Hastings Sunrise, and the sandy and grassy area of Trout Lake, Golden Delicious emulates the familiarity of home and the meaning behind it; what it means to feel at home with yourself, your family and those around you. Jason Karman's first feature-length film premiere at VIFF examines the coming-of-age story of a young Asian Canadian navigating his sexuality, the people he cares about, and his parents he doesn’t want to let down. 

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“Just the Two of Us”: Diasporic Intimacies in Anthony Shim’s Riceboy Sleeps

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“Just the Two of Us”: Diasporic Intimacies in Anthony Shim’s Riceboy Sleeps

Directed by Vancouver-based Anthony Shim, Riceboy Sleeps tells the story of single mother So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon) and her son Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang, Ethan Hwang). Their immigrant narrative begins after So-Young’s partner, Han Won-Shick, struggles with schizophrenia and commits suicide in Seoul, leaving Dong-hyun to be born out of wedlock and therefore delegitimized for South Korean citizenship.

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Vancouver International Film Festival Review: Until Branches Bend

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Vancouver International Film Festival Review: Until Branches Bend

Set in the Okanagan, Until Branches Bend introduces the fictional peach-harvesting town of Montague. Robin, a worker of the town’s packing house, discovers a bug that threatens the community’s semblance of calm. With elements of environmental and psychological drama, the film crafts an enveloping examination of the dangers that lurk beneath the surface, depicting more than one type of invasion.

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How Indigenous Artists and Knowledge Keepers are using lens-based media to navigate conversations of care and action

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How Indigenous Artists and Knowledge Keepers are using lens-based media to navigate conversations of care and action

In a time of climate disasters, humanitarian crises, racial injustices, reconciliation failures, economic downturn, and political theatre, Response: Soft Action asks us to pause and reflect on conversations about care, ideas of home, explorations of identity and belonging, and how that can translate into action/activism.

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