A Brief Record of My Father's Time at Sea (2021)

Buried deep in a closet in an old suitcase, Jeanette Kong discovered an artifact that would unlock a portal to her past-a burgundy notebook filled with handwritten Chinese characters. When she asked her father about it, he told her it was none of her business. It wasn't until after his death when she had the book translated that she discovered it was his private journal from when he traveled from Guangdong, China to Kingston, Jamaica in 1949. Why would he travel so far to start a new life? Documentarian Jeanette Kong not only tells the personal story of her family's migration experience, which eventually takes them to Canada but also spotlights the history and culture of the Hakka people. Told using archival footage and pictures, as well as footage captured from more recent family visits, A Brief History of My Father's Time At Sea is a rumination on Jeanette's own identity, while "typically Canadian" is also rooted in her Jamaican-Chinese heritage. By using her father's own words to tell part of that story, we come to understand that who we are as individuals and Canadians runs generations deep.