In this engrossing documentary, presented here for Asian Heritage Month, director Jennifer Chiu reaches into her family’s history to explore the Hakka — a people, a language, and a culture. Thought to hail from the north of China, the Hakka settled in the south of the country, where they were known as the “guest people”. In the face of social marginalization, many of them dispersed to places such as Mauritius, India, Jamaica, and Canada — including BC’s Lower Mainland, where Chiu spent much of her childhood.
The director’s reach is as expansive as her peoples’ migratory spread: Using found Super 8 footage, she explores the Hakka’s history in India, and through candid, probing interviews with relatives and community leaders she brings forth decades of a narrative that has been obscured for far too long. Chiu has made a warm, congenial film that is never weighed down by its explorations of family secrecy, the costs of assimilation, and the very uncertain future of Hakka culture.
Q&A with director Jennifer Chiu
Co-Presented with
Jennifer Chiu
Canada
2025
In English, Hakka, and Bengali with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Saturday May 23
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Executive Producer
Mel D’Souza, Jennifer Chiu
Producer
Jennifer Chiu
Screenwriter
Jennifer Chiu, Aynsley Baldwin
Cinematography
Antonia Ramirez
Editor
Aynsley Baldwin
Original Music
Scott Gailey, Oscar Vargas
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