A short doc on calligraphy, a high school musical, a cooking lesson from an old chef and confessions of a table-tennis prodigy – all of these films are on the programme at the new Toronto Chinese Canadian Film Festival, the brainchild of 75-year-old Montreal native Tery Wong Imamura, who emerged from 20 years of retirement to make the magic happen.
Origin Story
I was born in Hong Kong in 1950. At 16, I first came from to Montreal where my brother was studying mechanical engineering at McGill. He’d gotten married and my sister-in-law was pregnant, so I was sent over to be the babysitter. My parents were so worried about me and Canadian teenage boys that they came, too. That’s how we all landed in Canada.
Taking Flight
For 30-something years, I worked as a flight attendant with Air Canada – Canadian Pacific Air, originally – and was based in Vancouver because I could speak Chinese. I worked flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong. I’ve been retired for 22 years, but never sat around doing nothing. I’m just not the type. My mother used to say I had a “pointed bum” because I couldn’t sit down.
Challenging Cultural Norms
In my culture, you’re supposed to study to be a professional to earn a good living and live comfortably. Nobody is an artist or a painter or a filmmaker, which I always was at heart. I see the world in stories, and one in particular I’ve been thinking about for 30 years. So, I signed myself up for a screenwriting class to learn how to write. But I didn’t actually start writing until 2019 when I fell and broke my right shoulder. They sent me to a rehab place that took care of me and cooked all my meals – I typed with my left hand! Out of this came From Binding Feet to Burning Bra, my first documentary that’s currently in development.
A Saki-Inspired Calling
Before my husband died in 2022, we attended the Japanese Cultural Centre’s film festival three times. My husband was Japanese with great ties to the community, so we were VIPs enjoying sushi and saki and champagne. It was done so nicely that I wondered if there was a Chinese film festival. When I Googled and found none, I jumped. There are just shy of a million registered Chinese Canadians in Toronto compared to about 40,000 Japanese Canadians, and they’ve had a film festival for 14 years. I knew I had to do it.
The Festival is Born
I’m lucky to have many friends in the industry, including film curators from Hong Kong. They asked, “Tery, how can we support you?” and that was good because I didn’t know how to select a film. I got financial support from restaurateurs so, being very brave, I registered the company in December 2023. Last October, my baby was born. [Film festivals] take 10 months, not nine, and my baby girl was born at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto in a 600-seat theatre. This year, I said, “Welcome to my baby’s first birthday party.” I’m never looking for just one thing, like just kung-fu or just sci-fi. Some people buy a ticket package to come every night for seven nights. I want people to take something different from every film. As long as they’re Chinese, I’m interested. I want to support filmmakers, especially students, and create a platform for filmmakers to show their work. I want to see a Chinese Steven Spielberg in my lifetime.
