Abstract:

The immigrant experience is not always a happy one. For some, it involves loss of culture, the pain of not fitting in and the challenge of finding one's place in a world where difference is not always welcome. "From Harling Point" charts the journey of a Chinese community that migrated to western Canada, but strived to maintain its Asian traditions and roots. Traditional Chinese belief says that the soul of a person who dies in a foreign place wanders lost until their bones are returned home. For the Chinese pioneers who died in the New World, Harling Point was a temporary resting place until their bones could be sent on their final voyage to China. The cemetery and the Chinese community's efforts to preserve its sanctity serve as a vehicle to examine how, for immigrants, prejudice and separatism can eventually lead to cultural assimilation and respect over time. This beautifully expressive film uses archival materials and interviews to trace the cemetery's history, from controversy, through neglect, up to its revival as an historical site. From the experiences of Chinese pioneers in an unwelcoming land to the efforts of subsequent generations to establish roots, "From Harling Point" is an eloquent exploration of tradition, belonging and the meaning of home.