Vancouver independent filmmaker Mina Shum on how she chose the movie business
Mercedes Grundy | CBC Arts | Posted: February 4, 2016 11:00 PM | Last Updated: February 4, 2016
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.
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