SFU’s Teaching and Learning Centre has won a Leo Award for best one-hour documentary program for its one-hour documentary From C to C: Chinese Canadian stories of migration, produced and directed by Jordan Paterson. The annual Leo Awards are BC’s premier film and television competition.

During a series of 20 video interviews, the film explores the impact of the Head Tax and Exclusion Act on Chinese immigrants between 1923-47 through the reflections of their Chinese Canadian descendents and recent immigrants. The film also celebrates how Chinese Canadian pioneers helped to build Canada.

Developed in collaboration with the immigrant services agency S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the film includes an accompanying learning guide and website (www.sfu.ca/fromctoc/) where people can upload their own migration stories. They can also navigate an interactive historical timeline that includes more than 60 video interviews.

“This project… connected us to many communities committed to social change in Canada and China,” says Paterson, and thanks to their support and collaboration “these stories will now reach today’s youth and the community at large. It was a real privilege.”

The film was funded with a $200,000 grant from the federal government’s Community Historical Recognition Program.
B.C. historians, community organizations and activists not only lent their voices to the film but also helped Paterson and his research team sift through voluminous legal histories, private and public archives, and other documents.

From C to C: Chinese Canadian Stories of Migration will air on July 16 at 5 pm on CBC channel 3 and channel 308 on Starchoice.