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I do not speak from a position of marginalization but crucially from the resistance to that marginalization. As a filmmaker, it is important for me to reflect upon the process through which I constantly negotiate the borderlines between shifting territories . . . between the margin and the centre . . . between inclusion and exclusion . . . between visibility and invisibility.
- Pratibha Parmar (5)
Long before the 1988 Act for the Preservation and Enhancement of Multiculturalism in Canada, the West coast of Canada, a node of the Asia-Pacific region, had been highly multicultural with its rich First Nation cultures and waves of diverse immigrant populations. One recent wave of Asian immigrants, especially those with business or cultural capital, has immigrated to Vancouver in significant numbers since the 1980s because of the changing political situation in Asia and revisions to Canadian immigration policy (Ong and Nonini, Seward, Simmons).
Other than being highly multicultural, Vancouver is also famous for its queer-friendliness. British Columbia has become the second Canadian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage as a constitutional right in 2003. With a substantial gay community in the downtown area as well as a variety of queer events and conferences (such as Pride Parade and Out on Screen, to name a few), Vancouver has attracted not only numerous queer tourists every year but also queer immigrants (particularly Asians) who seek to be legitimate members of the society.
Further, the long brutal history of colonization in British Columbia, which has impacted numerous First Nation Peoples and culturally specific communities, has cultivated not only tensions and conflicts but also proliferated activism and built solidarities among differing groups. Vancouver, an urbanized coastal city (Coast Salish Territory) with a large number of Asian immigrants, has become an appealing hub for queer Asian artists/filmmakers from both abroad and other parts of Canada because it is now the third-largest film production centre in North America.
Queer Asian filmmakers, particularly those independent filmmakers or video artists, despite their amazing work both individually and collectively, have not yet received as much attention and funding support as they deserve. This article provides a brief introduction to some independent Asian queer filmmakers. Although by no means comprehensive, it reviews the work of several important contemporary...