KAREN CHO DEPICTS THE ENDURING COMMUNITY FIGHT TO KEEP CHINATOWN ALIVE
Karen Cho’s most recent documentary, Big Fight in Little Chinatown, enmeshes historical and cultural stories and memories of Asian immigrants in North America to raise an important question: what is the future of Chinatowns across North America?
Last week, the Rideau Curling Club was rented out for a community screening of Cho’s film as a part of a tour she’s doing across North America. It was an intimate space for Ottawa to come together and reflect on the film’s pressing message.
Cho weaves stories of hardship in Chinatowns in cities like Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Vancouver to articulate a collective existential threat. In post-pandemic times, major developers have been targeting Chinatowns for bigger urban developments, foreshadowing a chilling future where these Chinatowns are obsolete.
The film contextualizes this problem against North America’s history of anti-Asian racism and the systemic gentrification of our inner cities. We are reminded that the fight to keep Chinatown alive is not new, but ongoing ever since Asian immigrants began settling in North America and since their persecution in these cities.
Cho follows Chinatown activists and depicts touching scenes of community protests against big developers who want to cut through Chinatowns, showing the unrelenting community fights staggered across North America to maintain the spirit of Chinatown.
The feeling of community is felt in all the small details of the documentary, whether it’s scenes of elders, family associations, or the familiar light-hearted banter between relatives and community members. Shots of Chinatown’s striking architecture and authentic foods made in kitchens of long-standing family businesses are also colourfully brought together to highlight Chinatown’s cultural and historical value. Cho proves that Chinatown is not just a place, but a breathing organism that provides a necessary stepping stone for immigrant prosperity in North America.
After the screening, Cho continued the conversation on Chinatown off-screen by bringing together local artists and folks with close ties to Ottawa’s Chinatown to the front of the room for a panel discussion. She moderated as they earnestly talked about how the stories in the film resonated with them and shared the many roles Ottawa’s Chinatown plays in their own lives and the Chinese-Canadian community as a whole.
Big Fight in Little Chinatown evokes important reflection on the unique struggles of Asian immigrants in North America and proves Chinatowns as unignorable forces of life and necessary cultural epicenters in our cities. As she crafts this story about resilience, community, and culture, Cho meaningfully convinces us that yes– these Chinatowns, they’re absolutely worth saving.
Karen Cho is doing community screenings across North America for Big Fight in Little Chinatown. You can learn more about the film here.
