dunlevy: film examines fight to save chinatown in montreal and beyond
“i crossed the line from filmmaker to activist,” karen cho says. “i couldn’t sit there and watch it happen.”
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karen cho wasn’t planning to make a documentary about montreal’s chinatown. her film big fight in little chinatown was originally going to connect the struggles of better-known chinese communities in cities including new york, san francisco, toronto and vancouver. that was in early 2020. then the covid-19 pandemic hit, an alarming wave of ant-asian violence swept across the united states and canada — raising the stakes for chinatowns everywhere — and montreal’s chinatown found itself fighting for survival as a number of historic buildings in the area were bought up by real estate developers jeremy kornbluth and brandon shiller in 2021.
among them was the wing’s noodle factory building; cho’s great-grandfather was an associate in the company that became wing’s noodles.
“they’re our family,” she said.
her grandmother was born in chinatown in 1919.
“our family roots go back to the beginning of this chinatown,” cho explained, recalling being brought to chinatown by her grandmother as a child and feeling like she had been given a key to the neighbourhood, her grandmother’s friendships and connections granting her access to seemingly every secret corner of every building.
and so cho’s film acquired a personal edge. she became directly involved in the urgent push to save montreal’s chinatown. she joined the chinatown working group, which was central to the campaign that led montreal and quebec to announce in january 2022 that the area would be granted heritage status, with the wing’s noodle factory — built in 1826 as the british and canadian school — and the former davis tobacco factory classified as quebec heritage sites.
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“i crossed the line from filmmaker to activist,” cho said. “i couldn’t sit there and watch it happen.”
cho’s remarkable documentary picks up where her grandmother left off, granting viewers privileged access not only to the basements, stairwells, kitchens and backrooms of montreal’s chinatown but to those of the above-noted cities as well.
in the process, links are made not only between the rich culture and storied history of these communities, but between the racism and legislated oppression long faced by chinese immigrants which led to the creation of chinatowns in the first place. at the same time, such injustices turned these neighbourhoods into safe spaces where chinese and other asian newcomers could find resources and a sense of community while opening and working in businesses that supported successive generations.
as cho found while making the film, in each of the cities she visited those safe spaces are under threat. and they have been for years. montreal’s chinatown lost two-thirds of its territory over the decades to make way for everything from the guy- favreau complex to palais des congrès, the ville-marie expressway, the hydro-québec building, complexe desjardins and the chum hospital.
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“chinatown used to go to sherbrooke st.,” cho said. “i’m fifth-generation chinese canadian. every building my family lived in or worked out of has been destroyed by urban renewal. from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, the (area’s) population really went down, as told in the film. so many residences and meeting places were destroyed. the community has lost so many places to live and gather.”
the same goes for new york, where chinatown residents are protesting the construction of a new “mega jail” on their doorstep, and in other cities where chinatowns are fending off gentrification and erasure.
cho hopes her film resonates with a wide audience to humanize residents of chinatowns everywhere, allowing viewers to see that such areas are about more than just good restaurants.
“the most important thing to me is for people to realize chinatown is not just a touristy place,” she said. “it’s a living neighbourhood with a vibrant cultural heritage. it’s important to embed the story of chinatown in the story of north america. chinatown is not a place in china. it’s a north american thing. people need to think of it in that way, and value it in that way.”
at a glance: big fight in little chinatown is in theatres friday.
