Scattered Seeds

East2West has a new summer project underway!

Working with Kelowna Community Resources we're producing four ten minute vignettes based on the stories of four immigrants. Each vignette will focus on one person’s personal journey to Kelowna, and the struggles and successes that come along with shoving your life into a suitcase and hopping across the Atlantic.

We basically want to get to the heart of the immigrant story and explore how immigrants influence and shape this city.

I’ve been doing some research on the history of immigration in Canada, and it’s full of racism and assimilation. Only in the last few decades have we, as a country, truly began to appreciate the traditions and diversity that immigrants bring to Canada. Through the four vignettes we want to look at the innovative ideas that immigrants sow into their new communities.

But the immigrant story is often one of struggle. Unlike the larger cities in Canada, Kelowna is a community that is largely homogenous. Along with themes of integration and identity, we’ll also be looking at racism and how it plays out here at home.

As we continue the journey of creating these four vignettes we will also begin producing a one hour documentary. The four stories will be woven together to create a film that echoes the larger issue of immigration in Canada.

We’re still in the beginning process of figuring out our interviewees and constructing the storyline. Right now we’d just love to hear some feedback or input.


- Emma Smith