Ginger Post

A film profile of four Chinese cafe owners and their families living and flourishing in Outlook, Humboldt, and Eston, Saskatchewan. It looks at the role of women and sexism, historical and contemporary racism, business acumen, civic spirit and neighborhood relations. Includes a segment on Wayne Mah, the prairie’s only Chinese-Canadian mayor in 1985. Rare still photos of early Chinese in Canada. The original Chinese Cafes imitated by many.

Duration: 26:25. Producer/Director: Tony Chan

Chinese Cafés in Rural Saskatchewan (1985) has been exhibited, screened, or aired on many venues. Some of these are the Moose Jaw Museum and Gallery, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, May 2004; Nutrition Film Festival, Bastyr University, Seattle, February 28, 2003; Mendel Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1996; Documentaries Northwest, Seattle, 911 Media Arts Center, 1992; Cablearn, Channel 27, Seattle, 1992; Asia Television Ltd., Hong Kong, 1991.

From 1990 to 1991, the film was part of Yellow Peril Reconsidered, National Canadian Touring Photo Video Exhibition in Montreal; Oboro, PRIM, September 8 October 7, 1990, Toronto; Gallery 44, V Tape, November 3 December 1, Winnipeg; Plug In Inc., February 13 March 6, 1991, Halifax; Eye Level, March 19 April 13, 1991, Vancouver; Contemporary Art Gallery, OR, Artspeak, May 10 June 8, 1991, Ottawa; Galerie SAW Video, June 19 July 24.

From 1988 to 1989, it aired on CKCK-TV, Regina , Saskatchewan (CTV Affiliate), exhibited at Chisenhale Art Gallery, London, England, the Exhibition, Yellow Peril: New World Asians (Co sponsored with Canada House as part of Canada, a focus on Canadian culture) September October, and shown at the Asian American Video Festival, New York, April.

It also was exhibited at the Asian Pacific Festival, Vancouve¬r, June 1987. The year 1986 found the film at Access Alberta, Edmonton; Knowledge Network, Vancouver; The New Works Festival, Toronto; and the Guelph Ontario Film Festival.

Chinese Cafés in Rural Saskatchewan is in permanent collections at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Moose Jaw and Gallery; Bastyr University Library; University of Alberta Library; Robarts Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Heritage Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Canadian Embassy, Beijing; Mendel Art Gallery; University of Washington Suzzalo Library, Seattle; Instructional Media Center , California State University, Hayward, CA; and the Department of Asian American Studies, California State University, Long Beach.

To order a copy of Chinese Cafes in Rural Saskatchewan, email: order@gingerpost.com

Tony Chan is one of the first Asian Canadians to combine a career as a television journalist and independent filmmaker while educating people in film production and digital journalism and writing books and many essays. In 1984, Chan was selected by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to participate in its famous Yonge Street television producer’s course in Toronto. He was one of only eight people from 850 applications selected in this elite program for journalists of color. The others were George Boyd, Jarie Brodie, Dan David, David Lam, Deepa Mehta, Claire Prieto, and Paul Winn.

After the course, Tony worked as a supper hour television reporter at CBC Edmonton, Saskatoon, Calgary, and as a host of The Canadians at CBC Regina. From his stint at CBC, he took a job in Hong Kong as senior producer, television journalist, and anchor of Focus at the Pearl channel, Television Broadcasts Limited in 1986. Following that, Chan produced and directed works on the Vietnam War and the Asian Diaspora in Canada and the United States. Before working in Hong Kong, he produced and directed the original Chinese cafes: Chinese Cafes in Rural Saskatchewan (1985), which spawned many imitators. His filmography includes his work in Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States.

See Tony Chan’s Filmography.