Everything Will Be
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Everything Will Be'' is a 2014 documentary film about the changing face of Vancouver's Chinatown, directed by
Julia Kwan Julia Kwan is a Canadian screenwriter, director, and occasional producer of her own short and feature films. She has brought a keen sense of the Chinese-Canadian cultural experience to her films. Several of the films were made in conjunction with ...
and produced by
David Christensen David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton. Directing His directorial credits include ...
for the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
. ''Everything Will Be'' was the first documentary film for Kwan, whose first feature ''
Eve and the Fire Horse ''Eve and the Fire Horse'' is a 2005 Canadian film written and directed by Julia Kwan. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It ...
'' was a fictional comic account of growing up Chinese in Vancouver.


Production

Kwan and Christensen had initially explored the idea of making a film that contrasted Vancouver’s fading Chinatown with the thriving
Golden Village Golden Village is a cinema operator in Singapore. It also is a partner of Orange Sky Golden Harvest, a Hong Kong-based film production company. Established in 1992 as a joint venture between Golden Harvest and Village Roadshow, the company ope ...
in nearby Richmond, until Kwan realized her passion was in documenting Chinatown’s historic sites and businesses before they disappeared: "One day I was walking down Pender Street and within a two-block radius I counted like 20 shuttered shops … herbalists and knick-knack shops and green grocers. I think I was inspired to make this film from that ache I felt for the Chinatown of my childhood." Kwan has described the film as "an observational, immersive documentary, inspired by
Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is primarily about exploring American institutions. In 2017, ''The New York Times'' called him "one of the most important and origina ...
," and prepared for the film by walking the streets of Chinatown with her cinematographer. Since she characterizes her own command of Cantonese as "highly suspect," Kwan had a researcher and translator with her much of the time. She found herself drawn to the stories of elderly residents, who reminded her of her own parents and the people she grew up with. Area residents featured in ''Everything Will Be'' include an elderly newspaper seller known as Granny Kwan, and a security guard who's worked in the area for 20 years, who helped the filmmaker convince doubtful area residents to participate in the film. The film's title is inspired by a neon installation by
Martin Creed Martin Creed (born 21 October 1968) is a British artist, composer and performer. He won the Turner Prize in 2001 for exhibitions during the preceding year, with the jury praising his audacity for exhibiting a single installation, ''Work No. 22 ...
, which reads " Everything is going to be alright," overlooking the neighbourhood from atop real estate developer
Bob Rennie Bob Rennie (born 1956) is an art collector and a real estate marketer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the founder and executive director of Rennie, a Vancouver based real estate marketing firm. The company's business divisions include ...
's art museum in Chinatown’s Wing Sang building. Rennie is also featured in the film.


Release

The film premiered at the 2014
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...
, followed by the
Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...
. Patrick McLaughlin won the
Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...
for Best Cinematography in a Documentary at the
3rd Canadian Screen Awards The 3rd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 1, 2015, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2014."Calgary's Patrick McLaughlin, Wendy Partridge reflect on Canadian Screen Award wins"
''
Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...
'', March 2, 2015.


References


External links

* *{{Official website, https://www.nfb.ca/film/everything_will_be 2014 films 2014 documentary films National Film Board of Canada documentaries Films directed by Julia Kwan Documentary films about Vancouver Chinese-Canadian culture in Vancouver Films produced by David Christensen 2010s Canadian films English-language Canadian films Chinese-language Canadian films