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Imagination Works | bio

2010-03-10T18:08:12Z

Bio - Karen Cho :

Native to Montreal, Karen Cho is a filmmaker interested in documentary and other narrative forms.

In 2001, she graduated from Concordia University's Film Production Program where she received the Mel Hoppenheim Award. Her graduate film EVE won the award for Best Cinematography and premiered at the NYC Flicker Film Festival in 2002.

In 2003, as the winner of the National Film Board's Reel Diversity Competition, Karen directed In the Shadow of Gold Mountain, a documentary exploring the legacy of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act. It premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2004 and was broadcast on CBC's Rough Cuts in 2005. The film won a Golden Sheaf Award for Best Multicultural Documentary at the 2005 Yorkton Film Festival and garnered the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Golden Ribbon Award for Diversity in News and Information Programming in 2006.

In 2004-2005, Karen worked as a series director for Past Lives (Global) a documentary series about Canadians in search of their ancestral roots. Karen directed 4 episodes of the series on topics ranging from Chinese Immigration to Inuit history, Japanese-Canadian WWII Internment and Scottish Home Children.

In 2006, Karen directed the National Film Board’s first ever video podcast. Entitled Chinese Head Tax – the Government Officially Apologizes, the 10-minute documentary captured the unveiling of and reaction to the redress package that ended the Chinese Canadian 22-year-struggle for redress.

Seeking Refuge is Karen’s second documentary. The feature-length film tells the story of five asylum seekers who’ve sought refuge in Canada. Produced by InformAction, the film premiered at the Rendez-vous de cinema quebecois in 2009 and also screened at Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Amnesty International’s Reel Awareness festivals in Toronto and Vancouver and at Document 7 in Glasgow Scotland amongst others. Seeking Refuge is currently being used by the Canadian Council for Refugees and other organizations and universities as an education and advocacy tool. The film was broadcast on CBC’s The Lens garnering Karen a 2009 Gemini Nomination for Best Direction in a documentary Program. It will also broadcast on Radio-Canada and RDI in 2010.

Karen is also working as a series director for Extraordinary Canadians (Omni) a documentary series based on the Penguin Extraordinary Canadians collection of books. Produced by PMA Productions, the series explores the lives of eminent Canadians from the perspective of leading contemporary writers. Karen has directed episodes on Nellie McClung, Lester B. Pearson and Norman Bethune.

Karen is currently in development, with the NFB, on a feature-length documentary and multiplatform project about the Women’s Movement in Canada. She is also producing, directing and editing an experimental docu-fiction about family secrets. Production of this film has been supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ)

Karen's films often recount un-told histories and explore themes of immigration, activism, and social justice. Her approach to filmmaking is shaped by personal experience, pop-culture and her background in a richly multi-ethnic family.

Karen is interested in using film as a tool for social debate.

Imagination Works | Refuge

2010-03-09T22:00:17Z

Refuge:

Synopsis
Production Info
Photos & Clips
Director's Journal

Refuge 70min |documentary| HD
Co-Writer/Director: Karen Cho
Producer: InformAction Films
Broadcasters: Radio Canada, CBC

Synopsis:
Some 30,000 people will make refugee claims in Canada this year and 40 to 45% will be accepted as refugees. Seeking Refuge is the moving story of five of them. Following their lives over the course of a year, the film takes an intimate look at the lives of those who have escaped war, persecution, rape and political unrest to seek safety in Canada.

The filmplunges into the experiences, hopes and struggles of asylum seekers as they navigate their way through Canada’s refugee system. From border crossings to church basements, Seeking Refuge follows newly-arrived claimants awaiting their hearings and captures the lives of those who have been denied asylum and face deportation.

In a situation where peoples’ lives are at stake and the decision to grant or deny asylum could mean life or death for the refugee, Seeking Refuge offers a provocative look at both the refugee system and those whose lives lie in the balance.

Imagination Works | Director's Statement

2010-03-09T21:58:45Z

Director's Statement :

As a filmmaker, I’d like to think of myself as a story teller that sees the world through a lens shaped by my own personal experience, the world around me, and my upbringing in a richly multi-ethnic family.

While I am ever developing my voice as a filmmaker, the films I make often deal with themes of immigration, activism, personal relationships, self-identity and social jusctice. I’m impassioned by untold histories and unique points of view.

Documentary has been my focus for the past while. I am truly inspired by the lives and experiences of the people I have encountered along the way. From Chinese head tax payers, to Japanese internment survivors, Inuit youth, artists, feminists and refugees, some of the most moving stories are the ones that are real, not fiction. I am interested in using film as a tool for social debate.

For me, filmmaking is one of the most potent forms of communication because of its audio-visual nature. The images of film are universal often transcending both language and cultural barriers. It is for this reason that I have chosen film as the voice with which I tell my stories.

- Karen Cho

Imagination Works | about

2010-03-09T21:58:09Z

About:

Imagination Works is a production company specializing in documentary, fiction and multi-media creation.

Through a provocative, though-provoking and engaging approach to media, Imagination Works seeks to create projects that engage, inform and entertain.

Imagination Works is home to filmmaker Karen Cho. Karen's films often recount un-told histories and explore themes of immigration, activism, personal relationships, self-identity and social justice. Her approach to filmmaking is shaped by personal experience, pop-culture and her background in a richly multi-ethnic family.

Karen also works free-lance as a Line Producer, Production Coordinator and Script Consultant.

Karen is interested in developing ways of using media as a tool for social debate.