Television Premiere: In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
January 11, 2005  CBC Newsworld
Don't miss this show!
The National Film Board's In the Shadow of Gold Mountain will have its
television premiere on CBC Newsworld's Rough Cuts on Tuesday, Jan. 11
at 10 pm ET/PT, with a repeat broadcast on Friday, Jan. 14 at 10 pm
ET/PT.

In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (a film by Karen Cho) uncovers stories
from the last living survivors of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion
Act, which lasted from 1885 until 1947. These personal accounts of
extraordinary Chinese-Canadians who survived the era are stories of
unwavering personal strength, of families torn apart and
of a community's struggle for civil rights and redress.

Filmaker Karen Cho is a very thoughtful young filmaker who captures the
stories behind the story of the racist head tax that was only applied
to immigrants of Chinese descent – no matter which country they came
from.
Read both my short review of In the Shadow of Gold Mountain, and my meeting with Karen Cho.
This film features interviews with Vancouver locals Roy Mah and Gim
Wong – both of whom served in the Canadian military, when they were not
even allowed to vote in their own country of birth.  I know both
men personally, and they are both very decent and gracious men, who
strongly believe in their convictions.
Roy is the founder of Chinatown News, the first and longest running
English language news magazine for the Chinese Canadian community, and
a recipient of the Order of BC, and Queen's Jubilee Medal. This past
summer at the age of 86, Gim Wong rode his motorcycle to the site of
Last Spike, in Craigelachie, BC, to draw attention to the Canadian
Government's lack of ability to respond to repeated requests for
apologies and reparations for the Chinese Exclusion Act and Head Tax.
Read the NFB press release about the television premiere for In the Shadow of Gold Mountain.

Also check out the the network television premiere of Tribe of One, a
film about my cousin Rhonda Larrabee, who grew up half Chinese and half
First Nations.  It airs on Feb 6, 2005  APTN as part of a 13
part Aboriginal Showcase of NFB films.