Looking at My Family: Two Films by Richard Fung
When:
—
Venue:
Online
Looking at My Family: Two Films by Richard Fung
The Way to My Father’s Village (1988, 38’)
My Mother’s Place (1990, 49’)
Please find link to the two films by Richard Fung which will be made available for 24 hours from 25 November: https://essayfilmfestival-screeningroom.com/22046157
You can join us for the conversation at 18:00 on 26 November here: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/ed86863ecd81443e85cad89d32ef78d7
The Way to My Father’s Village
The artist and filmmaker Richard Fung was born and grew up in Trinidad, on the other side of the world from China. In the autumn of 1986, he finally went to his late father's village in southern Guangdong. This experimental documentary examines the way that children of immigrants relate to the land of their parents. It is about the construction of history and memory, the experience of colonialism, and about Westerners looking at China.
My Mother’s Place
Richard Fung’s mother, Rita Fung, was the granddaughter of Chinese indentured labourers brought to Trinidad in the mid-19th century. My Mother's Place is a documentary focusing on her stories. Made when she was eighty years old and living in Toronto, the film explores Rita Fung’s vivid memories of a history lost or fast disappearing, conveyed with a distinctly Caribbean frankness and storytelling style. My Mother's Place weaves interviews with Rita Fung and four women thinkers, an autobiographical narration, home movies, and documentary footage of the Caribbean to explore the formation of consciousness of race, class, and gender under colonialism.
About the filmmaker
Richard Fung is an artist and writer born in Trinidad and based in Toronto. His work comprises challenging videos on subjects ranging from the role of the Asian male in gay pornography to colonialism, immigration, racism, homophobia, AIDS, justice in Israel/Palestine, and his own family history. He was a Rockefeller Fellow at New York University and has received the Bell Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement in Video Art and the Toronto Arts Award for Media Art.
This programme is presented by the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and Twelve30 Collective.
Contact name:
Matthew Barrington