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Clan of the Painted Lady film image; woman looking out a window at a cityscape

Clan of the Painted Lady

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World Premiere

In this engrossing documentary, 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.

 

Oct 6 & 9: Q&A

 

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Supported by

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Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2025

Language

In English, Hakka and Bengali with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+

At VIFF Centre

19+

At Fifth Avenue

101 min
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Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

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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Jennifer Chiu

Jennifer Chiu is an award-winning writer, director, producer, and documentary researcher living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her films have screened at festivals around the world including DOK Leipzig, Edinburgh Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Mill Valley Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival. She recently completed her first feature documentary, Clan of the Painted Lady.

Filmography: Cabbie (2015); Memory of the Peace (2018)

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