Big Fight in Little Chinatown

The issues that we know face Chinatown in Vancouver — high rents; gentrification; the exodus to the suburbs — are not unique. Karen Cho’s acclaimed documentary places our story in the context of Chinatowns in New York, Montreal, Toronto and San Francisco.

Big Fight in Little Chinatown is a story of community resistance and resilience. Set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, the documentary takes us into the lives of residents, businesses, and community organizers whose neighbourhoods are facing active erasure. Through interviews with activists, business owners, academics and community members, Cho reminds us what is at stake in the form of cultural legacy, and that this is also a story of resilience and empowerment.

Coast to coast, the film follows Chinatown communities resisting the pressures around them. From the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail in New York, Montreal’s fight against developers swallowing up the most historic block of their Chinatown, big box chains and gentrification forces displacing Toronto’s community, to a Vancouver Chinatown business holding steadfast, the film reveals how Chinatown is both a stand-in for other communities who’ve been wiped off the city map, and the blueprint for inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods of the future.

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