Fairchild Putting the Canadian Chinese Head Tax in Context
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TORONTO, April 2 /CNW/ - On April 3, the Mandarin-language version of “A Century of Vicissitudes,” a revealing documentary depicting the impoverishment and bitter hardships many Chinese immigrants faced in helping build their adopted country, will have its debut on Talentvision - the Canadian national TV channel serving primarily Mandarin-speaking Chinese Canadians.
In commemorating the Canadian Government’s decision to redress the Chinese Head Tax issue in 2006, Fairchild Television produced an hour-long feature, in 3 language versions including English, Mandarin and Cantonese, which not only provides a comprehensive view of the entire head tax story, but also extends to tell the Canadian history of Chinese immigrants, a group that has grown to become the largest ethnic community in Canada.
“Deploying its nationwide pool of reporters, Fairchild Television pulled together a wealth of information from across the country in striving to present a program that is both historically accurate and personally compelling.” said Edmond Tse, Controller, Production of Fairchild Television (eastern division). “We began researching this topic over 20 years ago. The documentary consists of invaluable historic information and footage much of which was never previously released.” He added, “interviewees include Prime Minister Harper and other government officials, scholars, professionals and
many community leaders within the Chinese communities, as well as rich, genuine first hand knowledge collected over the years by Professor Lai Chuan Yan - a noted authority on Chinese Canadian history”.
“Fairchild is proud of its accomplishment in producing this documentary - it is an important contribution to the documentation of Canadian history and it is relevant to our viewers’ understanding of themselves within society.” said Connie Sephton, Assistant General Manager (East) of Fairchild Television.
“This type of unique programming: high quality, Canadian produced Canadian content that is pertinent to our viewers, will maintain Fairchild’s status as the ‘channel of choice’ for Chinese Canadians even in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” She added, “and thanks must also go out to the tremendous informational and financial support provided by the Chinese Canadian Community Alliance.”
The Mandarin version of “A Century of Vicissitudes” will air on Talentvision, which is owned and operated by Fairchild Television Ltd, in two parts: April 3 and 10 respectively. The Cantonese version aired on Fairchild Television as part of its signature current affairs program - “Timeline Magazine” - a show that is Canadian produced and internationally distributed.
The English version premiered to thunderous applause at special Chinese New Year events held at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, and will be placed on file as part of a collection in the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.
Fairchild Television and Talentvision are Canadian owned, national specialty TV channels providing Chinese-language television programming, respectively for the Cantonese-speaking and Mandarin-speaking Chinese Canadians.
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