🧵#DocumentaryFilms I've enjoyed this month - in no particular order.

A rich and little-known part of Canadian history unfolds through the stories of the first Chinese women to come to Canada and of subsequent generations of Chinese Canadian women. It is an amazing tale of courageous women who left behind their families, knowing they would never see them again and of girls who were shipped off to the New World to marry men they had never met. These are the women who fought against the many forms of racism they faced in Canada while, at the same time, challenging sexism within their own communities. By passing on language, culture, and values to their children, these women defined what it means to be Chinese Canadian. Beautiful old photographs from family albums, the recollections of seven women who grew up in Canada in the first half of the 20th century, and the memories of narrator and director, Dora Nipp, whose grandfather came to Canada in 1881 to build the railway, create a remarkable story of stunning impact.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/under-the-willow-tree-pioneer-chinese-women/

#AsianMastodon #ChineseWomen #CanadianHistory #ChineseCanadian #ChineseDiaspora #ChinesePioneers #ChineseCanadianHistory #WomensHistory #History #Canada #Immigrants #CulturalHistory #CulturalDiversity #FilmsFriday

Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada

National Film Board of Canada

In this feature #documentary Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Shuibo Wang (Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square) aims his camera at the astonishing story of 21 #AmericanSoldiers who opted to stay in #China after the #KoreanWar ended in 1954.

Back home in the United States, #McCarthyism was at its height and many Americans believed these men were brainwashed by Chinese communists. But what really happened? Using never-before-seen footage from the Chinese camps and interviews with former #PoWs and their families, They Chose China tells the fascinating stories of these forgotten American #dissidents.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/they_chose_china/

#geopolitics #USAHistory #AnandoningUSA

They Chose China

National Film Board of Canada