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A conversation with actress and filmmaker Katharine King So

The Concordia alumna discusses The Voyeurs, Montreal, and representation in film

In 2013, Katharine King So took a blind leap, and decided to move to Montreal to enroll at Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. Born and raised in Vancouver, her move to Montreal encouraged her to forge new connections within the film industry. The Concordia alumna’s latest gig, The Voyeurs, granted her the opportunity to play a role in a city that originally ignited her passion for film.

Although acting and filmmaking are her chief passions, she’s equally enthusiastic about advocating for those working in the film industry who identify as marginalized. King So founded the LGBTQ2S+ group at ACTRA Montreal (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) and she aspires to create lasting change within the industry.

TC: Can you talk to me about The Voyeurs and what it was like to be able to return to Montreal?

KKS: It was great! I’m excited to see what people think of the film, because there’s genuinely a lot of surprises. The film basically focuses on this couple that moves into an apartment where their window looks directly into the loft across the street from them. As they become more obsessed with this couple, things start to spiral.

So it’s a very rare experience to film in a Canadian city, and have it actually portrayed as a Canadian city. Most of the time [in films] we’re pretending that Montreal is New York or… Paris, but to actually film in Montreal and have it portrayed as Montreal felt really special. It was also special to get to be a voice for the city, as someone who lived in Montreal for eight years.

TC: Can you talk to me about your character Ari? What was it like to step into this role?

KKS: I think Ari just immediately spoke to me. The humour that Michael [Mohan] had written into the character was so evident, so I knew I could have fun. The film is suspenseful and can get quite dark, so my character is kind of like the comic relief. She’s also not afraid of being very blunt and speaking her mind. That, as an actor, gives you so much freedom which you don’t necessarily have in the real world.

Also, my character in the film is queer and Cameo Adele who plays my partner is also queer, so the director really went out of his way to prioritize hiring queer people for these parts. There’s a lot of things about this movie that I think felt very authentic for a big film.

TC: In addition to acting and filmmaking, you also started the LGBTQ2S+ group at ACTRA. Could you tell me more about this group?

KKS: We started the LGBTQ2S+ group at ACTRA Montreal, gosh, almost a year and a half ago. We didn’t really have one before, so it’s been really nice to have a community of people that are all part of the LGBTQ2S+ community. We’re there for each other, we have discussions, and we’re also doing a few actions to try and sort of make some progress in the industry.

Right now, we’re working on a better practices document*. The work takes a while, but it’s nice to have that space that can be accessible for people. I feel like that’s something that’s pretty intrinsic to a lot of the work that I do. It feels very relevant in the time and place where we are now in society, to be pushing for certain representation. I also think that’s why the film is so special to me. As a person, I inherently occupy multiple spaces, whether that’s being a woman, or being queer, or half Asian. Often in film, characters are only allowed to do one (role) at once. It was nice to play a role in The Voyeurs that was all the intersections of what I represent and also confident, goofy, and unapologetic.

*This document’s purpose is to present objectives that will make those who identify as LGBTQ2S+ feel safe and acknowledged in the film industry.

TC: What advice do you have for marginalized individuals who are looking to get into the sphere of film?

KKS: I think that it’s very important to have a support system. Also, the internet is a great resource now that wasn’t always there.

The industry is also a lot harder on queer people and people of colour. They get subjected to a lot more criticism, are expected to represent entire blanket communities, and are not allotted the same respect even now. I think you also have to eventually, in some ways, learn to separate the self from the work. If you do take everything so personally it can really wear you down, and it can be a hard industry to maintain your mental health in. Being able to look at something as just work versus your entire identity is very important. But that’s very hard. The work is in your body, with how you look, and all these things, so it’s definitely easier said than done.

TC: In terms of acting, how has it been with the pandemic? Have you taken on any new projects?

KKS: It’s been very interesting. I actually was very fortunate that I was able to work on a DC video game for almost a year, so I had pretty consistent work. It’s called Gotham Knights, and I play Batgirl. So that was really fun! It was also my first video game, so that style of acting is a little bit different than film. I also got to do motion capture and performance capture as well.

I was also shooting the second season of Transplant, which is shot in Montreal. And then I also got […] development funding from the CBC through the Creative Relief Fund for a sitcom that I pitched. Right now, I’m working with my lit[erary] manager and sort of getting that out to networks.

It’s been a weird year, but I think the film industry has managed to maintain a certain level of safety on set. It’s just been a lot of adapting!

The Voyeurs can be streamed on Amazon Prime. 

 

Photo courtesy of Jeremy Cabrera

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Arts

The growth of a filmmaker and the subjectivity of truth

 Director Yung Chang discusses his experience at Concordia and his new film This is Not a Movie. 

A first generation Chinese-Canadian born in Oshawa, Ontario, Yung Chang graduated from Concordia’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in 1999. He is now known for directing known for films like Up the Yangtze, China Heavyweight and his newest documentary, This is Not a Movie.

At Concordia, Chang built strong relationships with professors, one of which became a producer on all of his films until he moved away from Montreal.

“That city is so much a part of my development and growth as an artist and filmmaker,” he said. 

Chang said that building relationships like these was one of the benefits he got from the program, adding that “Concordia has a very strong cinema program, and I particularly remember that the emphasis is on cinema as art.”

At a young age, his parents exposed him to a variety of cultural experiences, film and theatre, such as the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto, which stages productions for children. This sparked the dream to become a filmmaker.

“My father used to rent super 8mm reels and he had a projector and he would play them for my brother and I in the basement,” Chang said. “There was something about that, my father loading the super 8 into the projector and setting up the screen and the whirring of the machine and just sitting there and watching something projected like that. It was stuck in my brain.”

These experiences set the scene for his interest in the visual arts, storytelling, and ultimately, his career as a filmmaker. It was after studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City that Chang started the groundwork of his first full-length documentary, Up The Yangtze, after his parents invited him to a cruise trip in China.

“Things just sort of snowballed thereafter,” he said, “I sort of discovered that this is a way I could tell stories.”

In his first year at Concordia in 1996, he was expected to shoot on 16mm film; this refers to the width of a piece of film stock, and it was one of the smaller sizes used in film.

“Back in the day, it was very much a hands-on thing,” he said. This helped Chang realize that film was a physical process that required careful consideration.

“You cut it, tape it, put it together, I think that process slows you down and makes you think a little more about how you want to put something together,” said Chang. 

Graduating at 21, Chang had bold expectations about life and in hindsight remarks that it’s rare to make a masterpiece right out of film school.

“Those expectations have to be tapered down a little, but not so much that you lose the spark that you had,” he said. “ I had to go on a journey outside of film school to find my voice.”

Chang’s newest documentary, This Is Not A Movie, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and made its Quebec premiere on Nov. 17 and 18. The film focuses on foreign correspondent Robert Fisk whose life’s work is dedicated to documenting the Middle East. There are many reasons why Chang was inspired to make a film about Fisk, including the “very urgent question about ‘what is the role of media’ and ‘what is the role of the written word’ in this new world in which we consume.”

He continued by explaining how the sheer amount of information today is shocking, and it can be difficult to discern what is real and what is fake.

“So, who do we lean to? Who are the people that we can trust?,” he asked. 

To Chang, Fisk is a part of the last generation of “boots on the ground, pad and paper” reporters.

“If anything, somebody who’s been around for forty years, doggedly reporting ‘the truth’ must have some insight into what journalism is,” he said.

Fisk is able to delineate complex places, events or wars for people in a way that mainstream media does not. Chang and his team did not want to make a political film.

Instead, they wanted to hear what Fisk had to say, allowing space for the audience to criticize him as he’s such a controversial figure.

“We want you to not agree with him, we want you to question it, but sit through the movie and feel through the ideas he presents,” Chang said. 

This is Not a Movie is about the subjectivity of truth, our complicity of war and questioning our beliefs in journalism. It’s an urgent film, made for today.

Chang ended by emphasizing that we need media literacy education to help people weed through the bombardment of information we face every day. This is precisely why we need people like Fisk. Chang hopes that this film will inspire new journalists, filmmakers and anyone who watches to have a deep understanding of how we interact with “the idea of truth”. 

For now, This is Not a Movie will continue its festival tour and is set to be screened at DOC NYC and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. It’s set to be theatrically released in Canada, in March 2020.

 

 

With files from the National Film Board of Canada.

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Arts

The domino effect

Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet’s series, Dominos, was filmed over the course of eight days. Photo courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet.

Concordia alumna’s web series nominated in CANNESERIES

When Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet first started working as a director, several of her more experienced friends and colleagues in the film industry recommended she start off as an assistant director. “I said no, I don’t want to be an assistant. I want to be a director. I am going to direct,” Pelchat-Ouellet recalled.

A few years later, Pelchat-Ouellet’s web series, Dominos—which she wrote, cast and directed—was nominated for Best Digital Series at CANNESERIES, the Cannes International Series Festival. Shot in only eight days, the web series is composed of five short episodes and is Pelchat-Ouellet’s largest fiction project to date.

Yet, the up-and-coming director wasn’t always interested in the arts, let alone being a director. Pelchat-Ouellet described herself in high school as shy and insecure. When she moved from Quebec City back to her birth city of Montreal to enroll in Concordia’s communications studies program, she developed an interest in photography. The program gave her the chance to explore her artistic talents as she played around with film, editing and sound design.

Each episode of the web series is centred around a different character, each of them linked to one another in the overarching theme. Photo courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet.

While on a trip to London, a year after she finished her bachelor’s degree, Pelchat-Ouellet received a call from a friend that helped guide her toward a directing career. The friend had just broken up with her boyfriend, and suggested she and Pelchat-Ouellet collaborate and create short films together.

“I made this classic list of my qualities and flaws, and what I wanted in life,” Pelchat-Ouellet said. “The conclusion, really, was to be a director. I really liked writing and photography, and I think directing is a mix of both. It made sense. When my friend called, she put it in play for me.”

Pelchat-Ouellet decided to pursue a career in filmmaking, and graduated from L’inis, a private film institute, in 2016. Her first projects were experimental photography, poetry and short films, which she often collaborated with friends to create. Shortly after graduating, Pelchat-Ouellet started getting contracts to make music videos for artists such as Fanny Bloom, Kroy, Heartstreets and Di Astronauts.

In 2015, her first fictional web series, Les Presqu’histoires, aired on Urbania, a cultural multiplatform media producer. Pelchat-Ouellet has also produced commercial advertising content for Énergie 94.3, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Keurig, Bell Media and Fondation Québec Jeunes, among other companies.

“I took a bigger risk in the beginning that spinned off pretty well,” said Pelchat-Ouellet, attributing this success to her determination to start out as a director rather than an assistant.

The filmmaker was inspired by the youth of Montreal, as well as each actor’s individual personality. Photo courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet.

Dominos tells the story of two brothers, Toto and Adib, as they cope with their mother’s sudden death. The drama series also follows the intertwining stories of a group of teenagers whose paths cross with the brothers’. Pelchat-Ouellet said the show reminded her of Skins, a British drama which gained attention for its cutting edge and raw portrayal of youth. Although every episode of Dominos is centred around a different character, the two shows share similar themes.

Showcasing the hazards of life, Dominos explores personal issues with touching, poetic and comedic tones. Pelchat-Ouellet said she was not only inspired by the youth in Montreal, but by each actor’s individual “vibe” and personality while shooting. This led to a fresh, in-the-moment experience on set.

As the character Toto describes in the series: “We’re like little dominoes that fall on each other; we just have to learn how to fall right.”

You can watch Dominos on TV5’s website. 

Photos courtesy of Zoé Pelchat-Ouellet

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Arts

Sharing stories of family and cultural identity

The Toronto-born filmmaker has received three awards from TIFF. Photo by Charles Duquet.

Concordia student Carol Nguyen shows self-discovery and reflection in captivating films

Carol Nguyen is the director, writer and editor of eight short films—she is also 19 years old. The undergraduate student at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema found success at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as a three-time winner of the Jump Cuts award for young filmmakers in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Nguyen is also an ambassador of the Share

Her Journey campaign, a TIFF initiative to raise awareness about gender equality in film. Additionally, she attended the 2018 Sundance Film Festival as an Ignite fellow to establish and develop connections in the film industry.

The common thread among the Toronto-born filmmaker’s notable works, like How Do You Pronounce Pho? (2014), This Home is Not Empty (2015), and recently, Every Grain of Rice (2017), is her use of distinct aesthetic forms and voiceover presences.

Born from personal struggles and understandings, the films don’t adhere to traditional documentary mediums, varying in their use of live action, animation, archives and miniatures. Nguyen’s work plays with the way we perceive reality and embraces creative techniques that are truthful to the filmmaker’s stories. She is a committed filmmaker and returns to consistent themes throughout her body of work.

As a child who grew up in a hybrid Vietnamese-Canadian household, Nguyen’s cultural identity is a prominent feature of her films. In one of her first shorts, How Do You Pronounce Pho?, she explores this hybridity. Told from her perspective as a teenager, the film shows Nguyen as she realizes the cultural differences between her school peers and herself. “Food was a metaphor for me trying to blend into another culture,” the filmmaker explained. “When you are young, you don’t think about complex ideas like that, and it comes out in the most simple things, like your school lunches and comments, as microaggressions.”

Nguyen’s film, Every Grain of Rice (2017), explores the relationship between food and cultural assimilation.

In this work, Nguyen shows her interest in the topic of hybrid culture. Her narration describes her experience tasting “culturally unstable” Western concepts of ethnic cuisine versus authentic Vietnamese meals cooked by her mother. The film empowers the candid young voice while still considering it in the process of learning about cultural hybridity.

How Do You Pronounce Pho? reflects on the process of learning not to limit ourselves to certain groups and languages. For Nguyen, it’s important to interact, collaborate and share ideas with others in a multicultural society. “Not to do so would mean missing enriching and impending stories and experiences,” she said.

As beautiful as hybrid culture can be, it can also be frightening. Three years after making How Do You Pronounce Pho?, Nguyen explored her fears in Every Grain of Rice, a film that delves into the relationship between food and cultural assimilation. She addressed the cultural assimilation that follows each generation. While emotionally attached to some of her parents’ Vietnamese traditions, the young filmmaker doesn’t substantially continue them, but holds the last tie with Vietnamese culture in her family.

“When my parents die, everything that goes along with my Vietnamese culture will die with them,” Nguyen said. “I’m not going to carry the recipes and the stories that they have.”

Thinking of topics for her films wasn’t always so clear for Nguyen. In 11th grade, Nguyen experienced a bout of writer’s block and became extremely uninspired. “I was stumped. I didn’t know what to make a film about,” she said. “Something that helped me was my teachers getting me back to the roots of film, back to my personal roots, asking questions like: ‘Why are you making this type of film? Why does it matter to you?’”

This Home is Not Empty (2015) is centred around a miniature paper replica of Nguyen’s childhood home.

What followed was This Home is Not Empty, in which Nguyen tried to portray her nostalgia for childhood. Using paper, she created a highly detailed miniature of her childhood home. The small-scale house is abandoned, sitting in a studio. Shots of the replica are contrasted with lively family photographs. The miniatures are constrained to dark grey tones on an insignificant scale. Objects are on the ground, her childhood fish tank is smashed and food is left out on the miniature table. With this film, Nguyen builds a paper collage of archives and reconstructions. She compares the photographs to the paper replica so the viewer can interpret their nostalgic relationship.

The filmmaker confronts the audience with a unique approach to represent her thoughts.  The film’s universe isn’t constrained to fictionalized memories. In a delicate way, the viewer is brought outside the paper house. Nguyen presents her work while embracing the process of making it. The filmmaker shows the hands that place the objects of the paper house, and the studio in which it is lit. The film presents her memories with honesty.

Nguyen’s films depict her internal explorations, and their highly controlled aesthetic gives a sense of restrained emotions. This February, Nguyen will direct her ninth film, the second to be produced within the Mel Hoppenheim film production program.

You can see This Home is Not Empty and How Do You Pronounce Pho? on Nguyen’s Vimeo page.

Feature photo by Charles Duquet.

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