( July 31st Sunday 2022 ) I want to thank everyone who came to my World Premiere of my Chapter 2 of my documentary ‘Saving Chinatown – Our Heritage, Our Legend,’ which was proudly presented by the 7th Canada China International Film Festival at Cinema Banque Scotia.
I am very happy, very grateful and very proud to say : It was another amazing turnout and a cheerful full house of audience.
I was very touched as I continued to receive heart-touching messages from everyone who came to our documentary’s premiere.
One of the messages really touched my heart and filled me with so much emotions, which was from Steph Woo. I want to share her message that makes a difference with everyone :
“Morning Date with Mommy to support Jimmy Chan’s premiere of his 2nd Documentary on Saving Chinatown.
Congratulations on this impactful and meaningful production.
It went far beyond ‘ supporting a friend’s documentary’….and ‘Yay! He’s on the big screen!’… It hit home. Hard.
I went in not knowing what to expect…
As I sat in my chair… For 2 hours… i went through an internal journey of emotions that I can’t quite explain…
( the Heroes on screen were sharing MY story, My parents’ story, My grandparents’… )
I felt PROUD: to know someone who’s taking massive action in preserving our Chinese Culture and Heritage right here in Montreal (that’s expanding far beyond).
I felt SHAME: In not being in touch with this very culture that’s a huge part of who I am and where I came from.
And GUILT: For choosing to ‘fit in’ with what was most comfortable and acceptable my entire life… rather than explore and embrace my truest roots.
Uncle Jimmy, thank you.
Thank you for the reminder and for moving me in way I haven’t been moved in years…
Today… you opened my eyes, my heart and mind. I’m left with a sense of responsibility and deep curiosity.”
In perfect planning and timing, mom and I had planned to grab lunch in China town right after…
She gave me a little bit of Her story and where she grew up… we took some time to look at the streets and the buildings a little differently.
Thank you my dearest friend Steph Woo for your heartfelt message !
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank the Co-Founder/president Dr. Miao Song, president Dr. Serguei Mokhov and their wonderful team in making my documentary World Premiere a great success.
Thank you Bei Shan & Sylvain for the great host at the 7th CCIFF of my documentary World Premiere.
I wanted to thank my great friend Cathy Leung and her son Simon, daughter Tyra who drove all the way from Toronto just to come watch my documentary at the premiere.
Thank you to my actor great friends Victoria Stefania Sanchez Mandryk and her family, Sylvia Stewart.
Thank you Stephanie Valenzuela – City Councillor Côte-Des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-De-Grâce, Marvin Rotrand – former Montreal City Councillor, Frantz Benjamin – Député de Viau / Parti libéral du Québec Frank Baylis – PRESIDENT, BAYLIS MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES.
And good friends Thi Be Nguyen, Steph Woo, Frances Wong, Raymond Tsim & Yvonne , Vannak Vong and his family, Michel Wong Kee Song & Susan, Candy VeganPeace, Jessica, Puika Ly, Xiaodan He, May Chiu, Andy Vu, Kim Giuliani, Karen Cho, Jenny DuHaime, Jason Valentino Brown, Shirley Wu, Glen Woo, Karen Tam, Cheng Cao, Robert D’Alessio, Day’s Lee, Laura Luu & Charles, Phil Good, Joelle Seto & family, Millie Lum , Frank Chan, Linda Lee, Elyse Levesque, Alice Henderson & Peter Henderson and many others…. 😊
