Grange Avenue

G R A N G E   A V E N U E

Written & Directed by Allan Tong
Produced by Louis Mercier / Co-produced by Randy Shek
Grange Avenue Productions ~ 14 minutes ~ 2008

S T O R Y

Grange Avenue tells of a forbidden love affair between a male Chinese immigrant and a white woman set in 1954 Toronto. Julia MacMillan (Sarah Gadon) falls for student Raymond Lam (Richard Lee) after a racial attack outside his Grange Avenue rooming house. Lovers Raymond and Julia embark on a torrid affair until Julia’s pregnancy threatens to expose their interracial affair to a hostile society. Can their love survive?

T H E M E S

Love vs. intolerance. Raymond and Julia struggle to stay together in a society hostile to interracial couples. Unlike today, Canada in 1954 was a conservative white-Anglo country that allowed limited cultural diversity. It was rare, and even dangerous, for mixed-race couples to be seen in public. Only seven years earlier was the Chinese Exclusion Act lifted to allow Chinese immigration to Canada.

In fact, Grange Avenue pays tribute to the young Chinese men who settled in post-war Canada. In the face of racism, these men raised families and planted the seeds of today’s thriving Chinese-Canadian community. Raymond Lam represents these pioneers who journeyed alone to an alien country, adapted and worked hard to ultimately sponsor their relatives to join them in this new country.

H I S T O R Y

Grange Avenue is an actual street that remains part of the original downtown Toronto Chinatown. In the film, Raymond Lam lives in a rooming house on this street and works at nearby Sai Woo Restaurant which was a Chinatown landmark from 1953 to 2000.

Like many others, Raymond fled war-torn China to make a home in Canada. His immigrant experience is based on that of the director’s father who lived briefly on Grange Avenue in the mid-50s until he started his own family. Unlike today when one in seven Torontonians is of Chinese descent, Raymond was part of a small racial minority that struggled in an overwhelming white Anglo society.

T H E    P R O D U C T I O N

Grange Avenue was filmed and edited in Toronto with the assistance of The Harmony Movement and other generous contributors. Leading Chinese-Canadian stage actor Richard Lee and up-and-coming actress Sarah Gadon portray the star-crossed lovers, Raymond and Julia.

Haitian-born producer Louis Mercier guided the film to completion. John M. Tran, whose family were Vietnamese boat people, shot the film, while Sri Lankan-Canadian Prem Sooriyakumar edited the footage together. Executive producer Paul de Silva has been promoting cultural diversity in the Canadian TV and film industry for decades and launched the careers of Deepa Mehta among others. Writer/director Allan Tong is a Toronto filmmaker whose work with several film festivals, published film journalism and community activism with groups such as NAAAP Toronto have promoted Asian storytelling on screen.

Special thanks go to The Harmony Education Foundation for their gracious assistance during production and their continued support in promoting this film. Special thanks also goes to the CBC-TV for initially funding this project, and to the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council and The National Film Board of Canada for their additional support.

GRANGE AVENUE has been awarded the Dramatic Prize at the Motor City Film International Festival in Detroit. The festival will also screen the film on Saturday, August 15 at noon, at the Motor City Casino Hotel. Details at www.motorcityfilmfest.com

C O N T A C T S

Allan Tong tong.allan@gmail.com
Louis Mercier soulion@gmail.com

© 2008 Grange Avenue Productions