The Invisible Red Thread – The Movie

Vivian’s Chinese Journey Moves To Summer

Omni TV with its parent company Rogers pre-empted its own next six weeks of Omni documentary premieres, including our own film “The Invisible Red Thread”. Instead, a new American reality series “Shahs of Sunset” will hit their airwaves in April and May. It’s a reality series produced by Ryan Seacrest that follows the lives of wealthy Persians in L.A. Our commissioning editor apologetically noted that the preemptions were a commercial decision, based on reality series trumping one-off documentaries ratings and garnering higher advertising revenue.

But we will be broadcasting on Omni– just a few weeks later. Our new broadcast premiere date will be June 17th for the English version and June 24th for the Mandarin version.

Nominated for Best Multicultural Documentary!

We just learned that “The Invisible Red Thread” is in the running for best “Multicultural Documentary” at the annual Yorkton Film Festival. The fest unspools May 24-27, 2012 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.  Exciting news as we count down to our OMNI TV broadcast premiere April 7^th in English, with the Mandarin version premiering April 14^th!

You can watch the film’s trailer here:

Film Series Programmer Chanda Chevannes Riffs on Choosing Our Doc for Her Series

How did you celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th? We’re stretching events through the month by being part of a screening series in Ontario highlighting women’s issues around the world.

The Invisible Red Thread, exploring international adoption issues through through one girl’s journey from Canada to her birth city in China, will screen on March 17 2012 at 1:30pm with co-producer/director Maureen Marovitch answering questions after the screening via Skype.

Visit the website to see the full festival schedule at Richmond Hill Library, programmed by Chanda Chevannes, an award-winning documentary filmmaker with The People’s Picture Company in Toronto.

We are happy to get in contact with Chanda for a short interview:

1. Why did you choose the film The Invisible Red Thread among the three series features?

I really appreciated the perspective of The Invisible Red Thread. China’s one-child policy has been a common topic of discussion in the international community, especially amongst those of us who are particularly concerned with the status of women globally. But I hadn’t previously seen a film that encouraged its viewers to think about the policy through the life of a young girl who was adopted from the country. The discussion often stops at China’s borders. It was very illuminating for me to see into Vivian’s life – and to see all of her reactions as she travelled back to China. In this way, The Invisible Red Thread provides me with a new look at China’s one-child policy, and this look is shaped by the experiences of my neighbour – another young woman living in Toronto.

2. What do you hope to achieve from this screening?

The screening is being held at the Richmond Hill Public Library (RHPL), and the library’s mandate is to facilitate education and learning for their patrons. The community serviced by the RHPL is diverse and vibrant. So, I’m hoping this screening will reflect both the library’s educational mandate as well as its diverse and vibrant community. I’m hoping that the audience will engage deeply with the film and with the Q&A session with Maureen Marovitch (the film’s director). I’m hoping that they will learn something new and that they will walk away from the program knowing a little bit more about this important women’s issue – having seen its impact on Chinese girls raised in Canada and in China.

Also don’t miss the broadcast coming up on OMNI.TV on April 8th!

Article by Jason Goodall

Leading up to our broadcast premiere on OMNI.TV on April 8 2012, meet the person who made the film look so good.

Online editing, colour correction, designing titles and graphics, and mastering; all in a day’s work for Tony Manolikakis of Rev 13 Films. As the co-owner of the Montreal-based post-production house, Tony did all this for The Invisible Red Thread.

But what do all these tech terms mean exactly? Colour correction is where the colour in each shot is made to look consistent, and any problems, such as over- or under-exposure, are adjusted. Online editing is the final stage of editing, where all of the shots are colour corrected and assembled with the highest possible resolution. Finally, mastering is the process of transferring the edited film, with soundtrack and all, onto a master copy, from which all copies of the film will be made. A lot of work to ensure that the film looks its best!

As the online editor for The Invisible Red Thread, Tony came across an interesting problem. The footage came from all sorts of different cameras, which all record in different formats, or codecs. Although different formats are common these days, for The Invisible Red Thread, “it still took three days to get everything in the proper format, instead of the usual one day,” says Tony.

Not to be misleading, however, Tony had a great time working on this film. “The colour correction was fun and it was a very interesting film,” he says. “One of the most fun parts about working as an online editor,” he explains, “is that you get to see so many great films.”

Tony also created the opening title graphic for The Invisible Red Thread. The basic concept came from Maureen Marovitch, the co-director and co-producer, but Tony was able to bring in his own ideas. “The way I saw it, the girls’ two stories were, in some ways, reflections of each other,” he says. So, Tony had the English titles reflected in Mandarin, with the thread weaving through them, and the reverse for the film’s Chinese version.

Tony came to film post-production in a circuitous path. Although he worked on his own and friends’ animated and 8 mm films as a teenager, Tony went on to study engineering in university. One of Tony’s first jobs was working at a company that developed hardware for video editing and broadcast systems. Shortly after growing his knowledge of the technical side of filmmaking, he decided to follow his first passion and has been working on films ever since.

The topic of adoption has an interesting connection for Tony. “Several of my family members have adopted, and they were fascinated by the idea of the film,” he explains.

“In the film, Vivian’s mom, Eve talks about how people often comment about how ‘lucky the children are to have been adopted’. The people in my family who have adopted often hear this too. But really, it’s not only the children; whether they are unable to have children or not, the parents are blessed as well.”

We’ve had many inquiries since we wrapped production one year ago… When will “The Invisible Red Thread” be broadcast on TV? Now finally we have news for Canadian TV audiences.

As a recap, our 1-hour documentary follows Vivian Lum, a 15 year old Canadian girl who was adopted in North American from China as she travels back to China for the first time. There she discovers her past and compares her life with that of a new friend, a teenage girl adopted within China living a very different existence.

And the film will have its TV premiere broadcast on (drum roll, please)…

OMNI.2 (Ontario)

• April 8. 2012 – English at 9pm
• April 14, 2012 – Mandarin at 9pm

OMNI.Alberta


• April 8. 2012 – English at 9pm

OMNI.BC

• April 8. 2012 – English at 9pm

But if you can’t wait that long, we have two sneak previews coming up:

In Vancouver, high school students can see it as part of  The 7th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival, in the Teen Screen section. More details here.

In Toronto, on Saturday, March 17 at 1:30PM, head over to the Richmond Hill Public Library for a special screening, part of their International Women’s Month screening series. The film will be followed by a Skype Q & A period with filmmaker Maureen Marovitch. More info here.

And we’ll be hosting a special screening with Vivian and her family present to answer questions in April in Toronto. More details on that soon!

Dr. Changfu Chang was an invaluable member of our team for “The Invisible Red Thread”. First he located Shumin Zhu, the young adoptee Vivian travelled to meet in China so the two could contrast and compare their adoptive lives. He was also a skillful diplomat with Shumin’s family, helping them see the positive aspects of participating in an international documentary. And the fact that he had directed over a half dozen documentaries about adoption from China, made him the perfect person to manage our filming in China.   So we’re delighted to pass on this great article about Changfu and his important filmmaking work now numbering over a half dozen films related to adoption from China!

Check out Jeff Gammage’s Inquirer article about Changfu Chang’s views on adoption here:http://bit.ly/tsjsDg

We get a lot of questions about when the documentary, The Invisible Red Thread, will finally be broadcast on TV.  The one hour film follows fifteen year old Vivian Lum`s travels back to China to contrast her North American adopted life with that of a teen girl adopted within China. While we don’t yet have an exact broadcast date…we do have narrowed it down the month: Canadians will be able to see the film on Omni TV in March 2012.

For now, the film continues on the festival circuit and will be available for Canadian and international sales on DVD after its March broadcast.

But meanwhile: you can hear an exclusive interview on Radio Canada International with director Maureen Marovitch. Listen in for details about the challenges of making the film, and the impact the filming had on its participants.

The Invisible Red Thread at The Montreal World Film Festival with (left to right) Hubert Lum, Eve Leyerle, Vivian Lum and co-producer Maureen Marovitch

The red carpet is rolled up and the films are back in their cans after 10 days of screenings and events at the 35^th Montreal World Film Festival. But for one family who travelled to see their finished documentary for the first time, the festival was unusually special.

Eve Leyerle and Hubert Lum took a special detour on their way home to Toronto after vacationing in Prince Edward Island. They travelled to the screening of the film about their family’s unique voyage to their adoptive daughter’s homeland. The film, “The Invisible Red Thread” premiered on August 26^th at the Montreal World Film Festival.

“I almost didn’t want to come”, said Vivian. “I didn’t think I wanted to see myself on screen.”

But curiosity about the film won out. “The Invisible Red Thread” documented Vivian’s return to her orphanage and the land of her birth, along with her poignant encounters with a locally adopted girl named Shumin Zhu. Vivian and her parents sat raptly throughout the film, then later were approached by members of the audience to discuss the story and their personal journey.

“It was great. I see Shumin differently now,” said Vivian about the film and the 14 year old Chinese girl she spent time with during her homeland trip. “I understand her and her life even better now.”

“It was fascinating to experience it all over again”, said Hubert, who spent two weeks with Vivian in China.  Eve also was moved by hearing from parents in China who had given away their daughters.

Others wanting to view the film will have the chance later this fall and winter when it premieres on OMNI TV in Canada and is available for home and educational DVD sales. We’ll be posting more info on that as soon as we have it!

For more coverage of the film and the festival:

The Suburban http://bit.ly/pa1i3C

The West End Times http://bit.ly/q9gb2E   

Congratulations to Karen Wright, Laurence Gamble and Louise Adam: They each won a set of tickets to the festival premiere of “The Invisible Red Thread”. But don’t despair if you didn’t win, it’s easy to pick up tickets to our screenings at the Montreal World Film Festival- and as a bonus you’ll also catch the documentary “Tin City Voices”, by Toronto filmmaker Elijah Marchand playing with it!

HOW TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE:  Visit the film’s web page at the Montreal World Film Festival here. You can then click on the “Admission” button to buy your tickets online! On the left hand side you chose Venue Cinema ONF-FFM or use these quick links below

• For the screening August 25 at 16:40 ONF.25.3 FFM
• For the screening August 26 at 12:00 ONF.26.1 FFM
• For the screening August 27 at 21:40 ONF.27.5 FFM

HOW TO BUY TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE: You can also buy tickets onsite at the ONF/NFB ticket counter at 1564 St. Denis at the cost of $10 each, right up to the screening times of the film.

Bon cinéma!

Leading up to our premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival, take some time to get to know the person who made it possible for us all to understand!

One film. Two languages. The Invisible Red Thread was filmed over two continents with a ratio of English to Mandarin of about 2:1. A veteran translator with more than 15 years experience Dr. Yawei Cui was given the tricky task of creating two separate versions of The Invisible Red Thread : one for Chinese speaking audiences and another for English viewers.

Dr. Yawei Cui

Translating might seem like a straightforward process, but it’s not as easy as it looks. The script can’t just be translated word for word. There is a limited amount of space and time on screen for subtitles. Consequently, keeping words to a minimum and dealing with sayings that aren’t easily translated pose interesting problems for translators. Having everything fit, make sense, and still tell the same story are elements that Dr.
Cui must always be aware of. Translating is also known as versioning, because, each translation actually creates a different version of the film.

When translating, Dr. Cui begins by reading through the entire script without writing anything. This allows him to get a better understanding of the complete story. Once he
has an idea of how the story unfolds, he begins to translate, while taking careful notes for “those ‘hard-to-understand’ or ‘not-so-sure’ parts,” he says.

Once a first version is done, Dr. Cui then watches the film to make sure that all of
the audio-visual elements make sense with his translation. A final revision and
draft are needed to make sure the translated script is in top shape!

Dr. Cui immigrated to Canada from China in 2000. Having worked as a university
professor as well as a translator and television producer in China, Dr. Cui began his Canadian career as a freelance journalist/documentary filmmaker and translator/interpreter. He says, “Though I, like most of the immigrants, have been living in translation as soon I got here in Canada, I’ve been working in the field of translation for 15 years in total.” He most recently completed doctoral studies in sociology and cultural studies at the University of Toronto and currently works at as manager of translation and interpretation at Canadian Securities Institute.

Dr. Cui has close ties to the issues in this film. As he says, “My generation has actually ‘lived’ in this Family Planning policy.” He’s glad to see someone make an effort to show how personal tragedies are actually socially and politically rooted; “Anything that challenges the social norms gets me excited.”

“It’s a great decision to have a couple of parents, who gave away their daughters, appear in the film. However short they might be there, they powerfully told the audience the ‘why’ behind their ‘action.’ One can no longer blame it merely on personal stupidity or heartlessness.”