Vancouver independent filmmaker Mina Shum on how she chose the movie business
Director of Double Happiness and Ninth Floor tells the story of the difficult decision that changed her life
Mina Shum is a successful director and screenwriter — her first feature, Double Happiness, won a Special Jury Citation for Best Canadian Feature Film when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and her first feature-length documentary, Ninth Floor, is currently screening across the country as part of Canada's Top Ten Film Festival. So you might think that the decision to become a filmmaker was an easy one for the talented storyteller. But rewind almost 25 years to when Shum was starting out, and you'd see a theatre school student with a very difficult choice.
I had this epiphany that if I was to pursue a creative life, that I had to turn my back on my obligations to my family.- Mina Shum
In this video, Shum tells the story of her decision to commit to her creative pursuits, despite the cultural traditions and expectations placed on her by her Chinese-Canadian family.
Watch Exhibitionists Sunday at 4:30pm (5pm NT) on CBC Television.