4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016 EDITOR BEN BENGTSON FA ntertainment NATALIE DUNSMUIR photo Dancers, performers and speakers celebrated the history of Marpole’s once-thriving Japanese community at an event on March 5. Marpole's Japanese celebrated South Vancouver’s Japanese community usually overlooked, historian says By NATALIE DUNSMUIR Ihe Marpole Museum & Historical Society hosted an event on March 5 in order to celebrate South Vancou- ver’s often overlooked and once-thriving Japanese community. The event took place at St. Augustine’s Parish Hall and featured numerous speakers, performers and a photography exhibit — fo- cused on Marpole’s Japa- nese community prior to the Second World War. “Tm really pleased that the museum society is want- ing to learn more about the Japanese community and they want to, in a way, cele- brate and preserve some of its history,” said historian and author Masako Fuka- wa, who spoke at the event. “The celebration of the Marpole Japanese commu- nity is a way of telling our history in sort of a community, collective way so that one can learn from it,” she said. Marpole was once home to many Japa- nese-Canadians, in- cluding a young David Suzuki and author Joy Koga- wa, but most families were forcibly re- moved due to the intern- ment of Japanese-Cana- dians during WWII. According to Fuka- wa, people usually focus on the history of Powell Street eo oar because that’s where many Japanese-Canadians were settled. “Marpole and other smaller areas tend to get forgotten,” she said. “I wanted to show _ that there were Jap- anese-Canadi- ans living in other parts of Greater , Vancouver, -* not just around Pow- ell Street.” When in- tern - ( ment end- ~ ed, Japanese-Ca- nadians scattered across Canada, and Fukawa said none re- turned to Marpole. Today, iy their houses are gone and have been replaced by low- rise condos. “There was no community for the Japanese to return to,” said Fukawa. The event, which was close to selling out, included talks by Fukawa and Karah Goshinmon, education coor- dinator at the Nikkei Na- tional Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby. Japa- nese dancers also _per- formed at the event. “A lot of people worked really, really hard to do [the event],” said Bill Barclay, who is one of the directors at the Marpole Museum & Historical Society. Alan Nakano attended the event and said he “didn’t realize that before the war there were a lot of Japanese- Canadians here.” MASAKO FUKAWA Historian, author and speaker 66 The celebra- tion of the Marpole Japanese communtiy is a way of telling our history Film fest has strong | Langara presence FESTIVAL film dates THE BIRDWATCHER WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. FSM THURSDAY, MARCH 10 8:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. SNIFF! THE ART OF AIR TASTING SUNDAY, MARCH 13 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. All shows are playing at Vancity Theatre at 1181 Seymour St., Vancouver, B.C. Source: Women In Film + Television Vancouver Two Langara film arts graduates and a current instructor have movies in this year’s event By SCOTT FORBES presence at the 2016 Vancouver In- ternational Women in Film Festival that takes place from March 8-13 at Vancity Theatre. Two Langara graduates, Sandra Ig- nagni and Melanie M. Jones, have di- rected films that will screen at the festi- val, and Langara film arts instructor and coordinator Garwin Sanford will appear as an actor in another film. Jones’ film, FSM, chronicles Saman- tha, an underground DJ living in Van- couver, and her search for a meaning- ful connection while experiencing alienation and isolation. “Films selected for the festival must have a woman in several key creative roles — in FSM 1am the writer/director/ producer and my lead actor (Saman- Le College will have a strong SUBMITTED photo A scene from Sniff! The Art of Air Tasting, a film by Sandra Ignagni. tha) is played by Vanessa Crouch,” said Jones in an email. Jones also said the festival and Vanc- ity Theatre “both have a history of sup- porting local independent filmmakers like myself and represent an integral part of our indie film community here in Vancouver.” Sanford plays the father of the main character in the feature film The Bird- watcher. He said being a male in a fe- male dominated movie was a fantastic experience. Ignagni’s film, Sniff? The Art of Air Tasting, is a short documentary film that will screen on Sunday, March 13 at the theatre. Sniff! is about Alex Grunenfelder, a Vancouver designer who has devel- oped a practice called “air tasting.” “What he does is sniff the air, in a sense he is sampling it, like you might sample a fine wine, and he reflects on its various properties,” Ignagni said. Ignagni credits Women In Film + Television Vancouver, an organization that supports women in Canadian screen-based media, for the support they gave her while working on the film. “T feel very fortunate to be part of the WIFTV community. The film industry is very difficult to break into for any- one, but it is particularly tough for women and young women,” she said. Locals to raise cash for Pagan Pride Fundraiser to be held in order to recoup losses from past event and get ready for upcoming celebrations By LINDA NGUYEN fundraiser on March 19 to raise money for their September cele- bration. This year the event is being held at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver on Oak Street and 49th Avenue. Money from the fundraiser will help buy new tents for future events and bring in profits for pagan vendors, who were af- fected last year after their event ended early due to an extreme windstorm. The windstorm during last year’s event caused trees to topple on many exhibitors’ tents. No one was injured, but vendors’ merchandise was de- stroyed. Lesley Phillips, a vendor who spe- cializes in aura readings, will partici- pate in this year’s fundraiser. She re- members her decision to not attend last year’s disastrous event. “Thad a very strong, intuitive feeling not to go to the event on the morning when I woke up,” Phillips said. “That was validated when they had all the problems that they have had with the trees coming down and everything.” Vancouver Pagan Pride is part of a larger network of groups that gather for education and networking in the pa- gan community. According to ED Johnston, the event coordinator for Vancouver Pagan Pride, the definition of paganism can vary depending on who’s consulted. “A pagan is someone who follows an earth-based, spiritual path. People con- sider it a religion, some people do not,” Johnston said. The fundraiser will include a tarot workshop, live Celtic music and a com- munity circle ritual. Rev. Steven Epperson of the Unitari- an Church of Vancouver said even though the church is not affiliated with the pagan groups, they welcome the Vancouver Pagan Pride event because their values are similar. “There are members of my congre- gation who are deeply informed by earth-based spirituality and who iden- tify themselves as pagans—as Unitari- an pagans,” Epperson said. Johnston said Vancouver Pagan Pride was essentially unknown when she first started with them. “When I {searched for] Vancouver Pagan Pride, we were on like the third page of Google,” Johnston said. Today, the or- ganization is the first result that ap- pears on Google search results. Yrs Pagan Pride is holding a LINDA NGUYEN photo A Celtic tree of life panel at Banyen Books & Sound in Vancouver.