Exclusion: Beyond the Silence
(Canada, 85 min.)
Dir. Keira Loughran
In her debut feature, Exclusion: Beyond the Silence, award winning theatre actor and director Keira Loughran fashions an intimate documentary that confronts the effects of discriminatory political practices on personal lives. Specifically, she explores how certain Canadian government policies at the turn of the twentieth century affected the Chinese community and caused generations of trauma. Beyond a mere retelling of history, she turns the film into a journey about connecting with one’s identity.
As Canada was developing as a nation, officials did allow Chinese immigration, but it was often to the detriment of these newcomers. The government imposed harsher restrictions on them than they did on settlers from other countries. In 1885, Canada instituted the $500 Chinese Head Tax on everyone who migrated from China. This also stopped the male workers, many toiling on this nation’s burgeoning railroad system, from sponsoring their families to settle in Canada. In this way, Canadian officials prevented a community from taking hold.
But the situation became even worse. In 1923, Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act, a bitterly unfortunate and ironic choice of moniker that was better known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. For the following 24 years, it barred any Chinese person from entering the country. This act also singled out this ethnic group like no other had been ostracized until this point in time.
Besides her own experiences and thoughts, Loughran, a fourth generation Chinese Canadian, folds in the story of Toronto’s Helen Lee and her family. Lee’s grandmother Foon Hay Lum, was separated from her own husband due to this act, became an activist and was later instrumental in in finally getting it reversed. Loughran also tells how her own grandmother, Jean Lumb, was a restaurateur whose community activism made her the first Chinese Canadian woman to be named to the Order of Canada
Loughran and Lee investigate and uncover facts and secrets together. They are candid with their feelings as they recall memories. As they discuss issues, Loughran fills in the historical and personal contexts, while blending in archival footage and photos. By also including talking head experts, she creates a comprehensive point of view.
The filmmaker then expands the scope of the film’s reach by including the artistic expressions of other artists with similar backgrounds. She films visual art exhibits and documents spoken word performances. The film opens out from a personal account into a collective experience. Eventually, although this first-time filmmaker sometimes has a hard time corralling all these threads, the film does benefit from this multitude of connected visions.
The film’s strength lies in the manner in which it builds toward Loughran and Lee’s trip to China to connect with family that they never had a chance to meet. These are ties that were lost due to the Canadian government’s discriminatory doctrines. These are also bonds that cannot be broken. Family members welcome them as their own even though, technically, they are strangers. They fill in details of the family histories which were otherwise hidden to the women.
While Exclusion: Beyond the Silence starts with an overriding sense of loss, it builds into a testament to human resilience. There is fighting spirit present, particularly when it comes to the undeniable strength of familial and communal bonds. The viewer bears witness to moments of joy and connection and gains a greater insight into mutual ties. The film’s message is about the wider historical contexts that shape one’s identity. It speaks to the past, but it also celebrates a new hope in the present.
