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Japanese Canadian Story Launches TV Series on Ethnic Women's History
by By Rachel Levy, Nikkei Voice, 10/1/2005
The story of a Japanese Canadian woman was one of two films screened the Noor Cultural Centre in Toronto on September 8, 2005 as part of the launch of an innovative new TV series exploring women’s history in Canada.
“Kimiko Murakami: Triumph Over Internment” tells the tale of a passionate woman who refused to give up hope during 8 years of internment. Her Salt Spring Island farm had been confiscated and sold, but she was determined she would return to the land again.
Kimiko’s daughter, Mary Kitagawa, flew in from Tsawwassen, British Columbia, to see the show for the first time. In the film, she told her mother’s story. She also visited the New Denver internment camp where her family had lived for over a year.
“It’s even smaller than I remember” Kitagawa said in the film. She had not been back to the camp since the family was released half a century ago. “I can’t believe (our family of) eight people (lived) in this small space.”
“For me, tonight was the fulfillment of a dream,” explained director and producer Susan Poizner, who spent three years developing, seeking funding and producing the project. Each of the 13 episodes profiles a remarkable woman from one of Canada’s communities.
“There were so many times that I thought this would never happen. At first I couldn’t find broadcasters. Then I couldn’t find an agency to fund the project. But somehow, I kept going and things eventually fell into place,” Poizner says.
By 2003, Cherie Westmoreland of SCN and Jill Bonenfant of Canadian Learning Television commissioned the series and Richard Spitz, a program officer from the Multiculturalism Program of Canadian Heritage, found funding for the project.
"There are few resources that examine Canada's ethno-cultural minority issues from a women's perspective,” Spitz explains. “I hope that this series will not only provide positive role models for women and members of our ethnic minority communities, but also promote understanding amongst all Canadians in general."
Providing role models and fostering intercultural understanding were two of Poizner’s main goals. She calls it “introducing Canadians to their neighbours” saying that meeting people from other cultures decreases the type of discrimination that results from fear.
Those that attended the launch came from the Muslim, Japanese, Italian and Jewish communities and the short films were followed by a question and answer session with Susan Poizner, Mary Kitagawa and Roshan Jamal of the Noor Centre.
One woman from the Muslim community asked Mary Kitagawa how her mother Kimiko felt about the $21,000 dollar cheque she received from the Government in 1988 to compensate for the injustices she suffered as the result of her years of internment.
“This was a symbolic amount,” Mary explained. The sum was hardly a fraction of the amount her family lost when their property – which would today be worth millions – was confiscated. “My parents taught us that we shouldn’t be bitter.”
The second film screened at the event was “Roshan Jamal: Faith Without Boundaries” about a woman in the Muslim community who is quietly and steadily fighting to bring gender equality in her community as the CEO of the Noor Cultural Centre.
The “Mother Tongue” series is currently airing on Canadian Learning Television on Mondays at 9.30pm EST and on SCN on Tuesdays at 10.00pm EST.
JCCC members and others are invited to a special screening of “Kimiko Murakami: Triumph Over Internment” and the Rwandan episode of Mother Tongue “Juliet Karugahe: Between Two Worlds” at the JCCC on October 26, 2005, 7.00 – 9.30pm.
The shows will be followed by a Q&A with Susan Poizner and Juliet Karugahe.
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This series of educational videos was made possible with funding from
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Mother Tongue: A woman's history of ethnic Canada is a 13-part TV series that documents Canada's multicultural history from a female perspective. Each program tells the story of a notable woman in one of Canada's communities, including a Black fugitive slave, an Acadian mail order bride, and an Icelandic suffragette.
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