The first place that bilingual fortune cookies were made was in Montréal’s Chinatown in the 1960s … or so I learned while watching the film, Big Fight in Little Chinatown (directed by Karen Cho, 2022). The stories that are told in the film take place in Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and New York City.
Different cities, different stories, but shared among them is this: communities were formed and businesses were established downtown, generations ago, on what has become highly valuable real estate that has been targeted by developers. In Montréal, more than 200 buildings in Chinatown were destroyed between the 1960s and 1980s. Also shared among the stories told in the film, though, is strength of family and community, determination and celebration, as well as increasing awareness and solidarity (in 2022, for example, part of Montréal’s Chinatown was declared a heritage site).
The documentary weaves together interviews with a wide range of individuals (in the community, advocacy, cultural stewardship and research arenas) alongside interesting media footage and archival material. The pace of the film and what must have been an abundance of possible content was handled well by the film-makers (running time is just under 90 minutes, visit the website for the trailer and information about public screenings or online streaming).
The photo above, I took earlier this year in Sun Yat-sen Park at the corner of rue Clark and rue De La Gauchetière Ouest in Montréal. My blog post title this week borrows from my fortune cookie when I was last in Chinatown, which read: “Good things are being said about you.”
Hmmm … that would be nice. Back at ya, Chinatown.
a few words ... from Montréal 