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Reviews
“….brilliant .. rarely has a documentary
been so beautifully directed and rendered, shot for shot, image by
image, pan by pan, zoom by zoom.”
- Peter Wintonick, POV Magazine
“Canadians often boast about the vibrancy
and strength that flows from a multicultural society. But Canadian
filmmaker Ali Kazimi’s documentary, Continuous Journey, shatters
any illusions that our nation-builders wanted it that way…. Once
that story takes shape – through digital enhancement of photos
and newspaper tearsheets, old newsreels and a clutch of interviews
with historians and socio-political activists – the Komagata
Maru episode becomes vivid. The strength of the film then rests in
Kazimi’s ability to relate it to systematic racism in Canada’s
early immigration policies.”
- Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun
January 21, 2005
“Kazimi has gone at the incident from
every angle…. (His) interviews with historians both in Canada
and India provide a rich context for the fate of the 375 rejected immigrants.”
- Susan Walker, Toronto Star
January 21, 2005
“Through archival footage, vintage photographic
montage and inventive voice-over performance, Kazimi documents the
story of the 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus held on the boat a
half mile from Canadian shores without provisions for more than two
months. Continuous Journey, is the work of an experienced storyteller
and image-maker. Kazimi's own journey from India (which he recounts
here and in his previous films) has been a fortuitous event for Canada.”
- Leah McLaren, The Globe & Mail
January 21, 2005
“It’s a complicated story, hinging
on Canada’s restrictive immigration policy and fears throughout
the empire of (very real) Indian nationalism movements. But Kazimi
makes a convincing argument that these people, like most immigrants,
bore no ill will and posed no threat to their hoped-for new homeland.
- Chris Knight, National Post
January 21, 2005
“Kazimi does a good job of contextualizing
the Maru tragedy and providing a potted history of Canada’s immigration
policies … and despite the lack of first hand sources, the film
is never dull, jazzed up with atmospheric music, 3-D photo montages
and tricky editing techniques.”
- Paul Issacs, Eye Magazine
January 20, 2005
Audience Response
I loved Continuous Journey and thought you
did a magnificent job making this event seem urgent. The footage that
you found of the boat, from a lost amateur camera,made me cry. Astonishing
use of still photographs, and a truly moving narration. I was proud
to help present such an important film.
Atom Egoyan
It has stayed with me this weekend. First,
it makes me realize how the most liberal of us still sit onlayers of
denial - its so easy to do that. Your work is salutary for all of us
- that, I think is the most important thing about it. And you don't
shock, or push or shove. You're coming from a deep well of human spiritual
being. So when the intelligence of your research gets infused with
your poetry, you present us with a profound piece of art. I feel like
you gave me a gift, Ali. Many thanks!
Rosalind M. Gill
Chair, École de traduction/School
of Translation
Collège Glendon, Université York
Your film was fantastic - there was almost a
full house last night, my friends loved it -- we were talking afterward
about what an amazing story it is, how well the politics were explained,
how the details of the thing were what made it's impact. To me it was a
2:00 history news item, the kind of thing I am aware of because i am a
history nut. But my friends had barely heard of it. How adroitly without
exaggeration or sentiment you made the points about the distance we must
take today in judging our government. What a marvelous and difficult filmmaking
effort, obviously pieced together bit by bit over years. My breath was
caught in my throat when you discovered the archive. And I understood Indian
and Sikh politics, or started to, effortlessly. No one was a wash of same
name, same face. That's the kind of discourse I want in my world.
Good work - you must be so proud.
Julia Bennett, Production Executive
Discovery Health Channel, BBC Canada, and BBC Kids
Our 7pm screening was packed, and it looked
like the 9pm one was too. The audience loved it, and I was glad to
see it again, there is so much I missed the first time (including the
beginning). I loved the way you animated the stock photos, Ali, you
found a way of making the key people invvolved come to life on many
different levels. The way the sotry is inntertwined with the linear
history works incredibley well, it can be a challenge to present that
kind of info in a dynmaic way, but you really succeeded. Your defalting
of the "white canada" mytholgy with the reality that there
were Original inhabitants was subtly, yet powerfully done. It amazes
me how many people forget that still.
Gisele Gordon, Filmmaker
Credits
Producer:
Ali Kazimi
Director:
Ali Kazimi
Writer:
Ali Kazimi
Editors:
Graeme Ball
Ali Kazimi
Sound:
Sunil Khanna
David Adkin
Music Director & Sound
Designer
Phil Strong
Music:
Shahid Ali Khan
Kiran Ahluwalia
Ravi Naimpally
Brent Grossman
Phil Strong
Produced in association
with TVOntario
with the generous support
of The South Asian
Heritage Foundation
and with financial assistance
from:
The Canada Council
for the Arts
The Ontario Arts Council
The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund
The Toronto Arts Council
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