A Hakka-Canadian filmmaker traces her family's past in Kolkata, India and confronts the impact of migration on identity and family, exploring the space between generations where culture hangs in the balance.
Clan of the Painted Lady follows my personal journey from China to Canada to India, to discover why we move and how we keep our heritage alive whilst adapting to new places. With an ensemble of Hakka voices from around the world, the film explores how culture is transmitted from one generation to another, and the challenge of defining identity within a diaspora.
As we begin new lives in new places, what do we hold on to—and what must we let go of? Will we be able to remember who we are as we move through the world?
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
As a Chinese-Canadian person born in India, I spent a lot of my early life feeling disconnected from all the places where my life had landed. As I became more curious about my family story, I realized how much had already been lost or forgotten, including my ability to speak Hakka. As the imminent disappearance of our community in India loomed, I was left wondering, what’s left of us when it’s gone? How do we remember ourselves in the face of so much erasure?
My desire to remember compelled me to make this film. It taught me that culture lives or dies in the delicate space between generations. One severed tie may augur many cycles of loss and disconnection, because it only takes one generation to forget.
If I had one wish for the film, it would be that a few people might become curious about their own cultures and families and start asking questions before it’s too late. As my film testifies, relationships with family and community aren’t easy, but they offer something immeasurable: a root system that keeps us grounded and connected no matter where we are or choose to go.
YEAR OF PRODUCTION 2025
DURATION 101 min
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION Canada
GENRE Documentary
SHOOTING FORMAT Digital
FINISH FORMAT DCP
ASPECT RATIO 1.66
SOUND FORMAT Stereo
LANGUAGE English, Hakka, Bengali
SUBTITLES English, Traditional Chinese
ACCESSIBILITY Closed Captioning and Descriptive
ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
TRAILER
background in Sustainable Community Development. She graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BFA in Film Production in 2021 and was a participant in the 2021 CSC Mentorship Program.
Antonia recently shot Fallen Bird, a short narrative film shot in Kyiv, Ukraine exploring themes of human love, connection, and re-discovery during times of war; Ask the Plantain, an experimental documentary set in Greece that delves into ancestry and colonization; and Afande, a short documentary made in Uganda about General Joram Mugume, a rebel leader in the country’s liberation wars.
Other recent projects include Mouse, a short narrative film exploring youth and social alienation; Backstage, a short about a musicians rise to deity status; Animus Anima, which centres around the intersection of movement, image, and femininity; Smoke Alarms, a reflective music video about childhood which premiered on Eastman Kodak; and Bare Bones, an experimental music film that premiered at MUTEK Montreal and was an official selection at the Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival.
Her short genre film Lost Wax, shot in Lagos, Nigeria, recently completed post-production.
In addition to picture editing, Aynsley has worked extensively as a VFX editor with Image Engine, an award-winning Vancouver visual effects studio, on several projects including Logan, Game of Thrones, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka.
Scott Gailey is a musician, composer and producer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Gailey has released under his name, under the alias Hotspring, as well as in various collaborations. In his various collaborative and solo projects, his work embraces multiple genres, with an interest in pop, noise, post-musique concrète, ambient composition, spatial audio and psychoacoustics. Recent work includes mixing, mastering, audio production and engineering.
Vancouver International Film Festival
Monday, October 6,
6:00 pm, Fifth Avenue Cinema
Thursday, October 9,
3:30 pm, VIFF Centre
DOK Leipzig
Tuesday, October 28,
5:30 pm, CineStar 7
Thursday, October 30,
12:00 pm, CineStar 5
Sunday, November 2,
2:00 pm,
Passage Kinos Astoria
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