Special Events
FascinAsian Film Festival Screening
Big Fight in Little Chinatown
May 12th, 2025 | 5:00 - 7:30 PM | Betty Andrews Recital Hall
All across the globe, Chinatowns are under threat of disappearing – and along with them, the rich history of communities who fought from the margins for a place to belong. Big Fight in Little Chinatown documents the collective fight to save Chinatowns across North America.
Big Fight in Little Chinatown is a story of community resistance and resilience. Set against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian racism, the documentary takes us into the lives of residents, businesses and community organizers whose neighborhoods are facing active erasure.
Coast to Coast the film follows Chinatown communities resisting the pressures around them. From the construction of the world’s largest vertical jail in New York, Montreal’s fight against developers swallowing up the most historic block of their Chinatown, big box chains and gentrification forces displacing Toronto’s community, to a Vancouver Chinatown business holding steadfast, the film reveals how Chinatown is both a stand-in for other communities who’ve been wiped off the city map, and the blueprint for inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods of the future.
STILLS FROM THE FILM
Director
Karen Cho (曹嘉伦) is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker known for her socio-political documentaries that explore themes of identity, immigration, and social justice. A fifth-generation descendant of the “Low Wah Kiu” (Old Overseas Chinese) who came to Canada during the gold rush and railway years, Karen’s first film In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (2004) explored the Chinese Canadian immigration experience, the legacy of the Head Tax and Exclusion act, and examined how legislated racism in Canada affected Chinese side of her family while her European ancestors were rewarded for immigrating. The experience of making this film helped shape Karen’s vision as a documentarian committed to exploring stories from underrepresented communities and expanding the notion of Canadian identity and history. The impact the film had as a popular education tool for the Chinese-Canadian Redress movement was documented in William Dere’s 2019 book Being Chinese in Canada as well as Elaine Chang’s 2007 book Reel Asian: Asian Canada on Screen. Karen’s other film credits include the Gemini-Nominated Seeking Refuge (2009) a film following asylum seekers in Canada and Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada (2012) that won Best Documentary at the Whistler Film Festival and launched in over 67 community screenings across the country. Karen’s TV work has touched on subjects like art and identity, Indigenous health and wellness, Japanese Canadian internment, Quebecois cuisine, Vancouver’s downtown east side, and artist activists around the world. In 2018 Karen was nominated for a Best Directing Canadian Screen Award for her work on CBC’s Interrupt This Program.
Karen Cho
Collaborative Music Performance:
A Model for Community-Engaged Artistic Scholarship
May 12th, 2025 | 5:00 - 7:30 PM | Triffo Theatre
Raymond Baril
Raymond Baril is Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of Music at MacEwan University and was Director of the MacEwan University Jazz Ensemble for 37 seasons. Prior to his appointment at MacEwan, he taught with Edmonton Public Schools. He is in his 24th season as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Edmonton Winds. Raymond remains a much sought after national clinician and adjudicator as well as a featured guest speaker at music education conferences across the country. Raymond continues to work as a professional saxophonist and woodwind specialist for pit orchestras in local and touring productions. He was a regular member of the Tommy Banks Big Band for 25 years and has appeared with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions as a section member and soloist, as well as a guest conductor. He has released four CDs with the Edmonton Winds. In 2024, under his direction, the Edmonton Winds recorded their fifth CD to be released in the fall of 2025. In addition, Raymond has released CDs with the MacEwan University Generations Big Band and the MacEwan Big Band. Recently, Raymond received the Alberta Music Education Foundation recognition award for his longstanding contributions to music education in Alberta. In addition, he was inducted into Edmonton’s Cultural Hall of Fame 2018 and was recognized in 2016 with a Distinguished Teaching Award from MacEwan University. Raymond holds a graduate degree in conducting from Northwestern University and undergraduate degrees in both performance and education from the University of Alberta.
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Allan Gilliland
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Rose Ginther
Join us for a performance and panel presentation featuring the Edmonton Winds!
Community-engaged scholarship plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between academic institutions and
community-based arts organizations, fostering mutual growth and understanding.
A community ensemble can provide the opportunity for a faculty to draw upon its resources with a primary focus on performing, visual and communication arts, and then to connect them with the outlet for participants to interact, learns and refine skills and share experiences that nurture a deeper understanding and respect by all parties involved. The faculty member or members have the potential to engage in meaningful research that supports their artistic scholarly activity, without altering their artistic practice.
The community-based music ensemble works collaboratively with the academy in artistic creation. There is also the potential for the student to be actively engaged in a work integrated learning environment that draws upon the mentorship from the academy and the community partner. It is the perfect tool for community engagement that creates a space where artistic expression, social interaction, shared experiences, and personal growth share the stage to create a positive outcome that builds valuable bridges between communities and the post-secondary academy.
MacEwan music faculty members Raymond Baril, Allan Gilliland and Paul Johnston, Associate Dean Rose Ginther, along with current students and members of the Edmonton Winds will speak to the value of their experience and conclude with a performance by the Edmonton Winds under the direction of Raymond Baril.
