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Japanese Canadian stories explored in B.C. film 㽶ƵֱSeagrass㽶Ƶֱ

Meredith Hama-Brown㽶Ƶֱs award-winning feature explores topics rarely seen on screen
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Young Victoria actor Remy Marthaller had her first major film role in Seagrass. (Seagrass movie still)

As Meredith Hama-Brown㽶Ƶֱs debut feature film 㽶ƵֱSeagrass㽶Ƶֱ made waves during its festival run last fall, the Vancouver writer-director says she heard from many Japanese Canadians who thanked her for exploring a side of their experience rarely depicted on screen.

Ally Maki stars as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman grieving the recent loss of her mother and struggling with her cultural identity as she brings her family to a couples㽶Ƶֱ therapy retreat on a British Columbia island. The film tackles mixed-race relationship conflicts, intergenerational trauma, casual racism and young sibling dynamics.

㽶ƵֱThere are a lot of details in the film that I㽶Ƶֱve seen in my own family and that other people have told me that they㽶Ƶֱve also experienced, particularly how Judith has lost touch with a lot of her own personal history and her family history,㽶Ƶֱ Hama-Brown, whose mother is Japanese Canadian, says on a video call from Vancouver.

Like Judith, Hama-Brown says there are gaps in what she knows about the experiences of her grandparents, who were among more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians forced into internment camps by the federal government during the Second World War.

㽶ƵֱThat㽶Ƶֱs something that㽶Ƶֱs very common for Japanese Canadians and Americans, because my grandparents㽶Ƶֱ generation really didn㽶Ƶֱt want to talk about what happened. I think it was such a traumatic experience and they just wanted to move past it.㽶Ƶֱ

㽶ƵֱSeagrass,㽶Ƶֱ which hits theatres across North America on Friday, is a tense and tangled family drama charting the ups and downs of an interracial marriage on the verge of collapse.

Set in the 1990s, the film sees Judith㽶Ƶֱs marriage to her white Canadian husband Steve, played by Luke Roberts, fall apart as they struggle to connect at group therapy sessions for couples, while their children explore the island㽶Ƶֱs verdant landscape. Along the way, they become frenemies with a seemingly more functional couple, played by Chris Pang and Sarah Gadon.

Earlier this month, 㽶ƵֱSeagrass㽶Ƶֱ was named best B.C. film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, where Hama-Brown also won the best director prize. Last year, it made Toronto International Film Festival㽶Ƶֱs Canada㽶Ƶֱs Top Ten list and took home the International Film Critics Prize at the fest.

Hama-Brown, who grew up in the 㽶Ƶֱ90s, mines some of her own experiences in the film, similar to the way her award-winning short 㽶ƵֱBroken Bunny㽶Ƶֱ dealt with themes of shattered childhood innocence. But she stresses that the plot is very much fictional.

㽶ƵֱMy family never went to this retreat altogether, and although my parents are divorced, I never saw them argue. They had a polar opposite divorce. My dad is the polar opposite of Steve.㽶Ƶֱ

Steve comes off as culturally insensitive and poorly equipped to deal with Judith㽶Ƶֱs intergenerational trauma. At one point, he makes a racist joke about Pang㽶Ƶֱs character, a Chinese Australian.

Hama-Brown says such microaggressions were a product of the era 㽶ƵֱSeagrass㽶Ƶֱ takes place in.

㽶ƵֱIn the 㽶Ƶֱ90s, no one really knew how to say, 㽶ƵֱThat㽶Ƶֱs racist or that doesn㽶Ƶֱt feel right.㽶Ƶֱ Or when people tried, it would be disregarded as a joke. It㽶Ƶֱs been really good exploring that type of racism in a film, because I think it can be extremely insidious and it㽶Ƶֱs something that is still so prevalent.㽶Ƶֱ

㽶ƵֱSeagrass㽶Ƶֱ is also a coming-of-age story as the couple㽶Ƶֱs children Stephanie and Emmy, played by Vancouver㽶Ƶֱs Nyha Huang Breitkreuz and Victoria㽶Ƶֱs Remy Marthaller, experience the fallout of their family crumbling.

Hama-Brown says the team found the pair of young actors through a 㽶Ƶֱvery laborious casting process㽶Ƶֱ in which they 㽶Ƶֱwrote to every single kids㽶Ƶֱ acting school in Canada.㽶Ƶֱ Breitkreuz㽶Ƶֱs audition tape came in a week and a half before they started shooting. The film marks both actors㽶Ƶֱ first major roles in a movie.

㽶ƵֱThank goodness everything came together because it㽶Ƶֱs very challenging casting kids and finding people who can carry these really challenging roles. They have mature themes, but there㽶Ƶֱs also a ton of dialogue.㽶Ƶֱ

Just as challenging to scout out were the film㽶Ƶֱs locations. Finding a retreat for a month during the summer of 2022 was nearly impossible as they were all booked up, but Hama-Brown and cinematographer Norm Li discovered one on Gabriola Island called The Haven. Group therapy sessions are actually held there in real life, although Hama-Brown jokes 㽶Ƶֱthey㽶Ƶֱre probably much better than the ones portrayed in the film.㽶Ƶֱ

When Emmy is shown an oceanside cave that other children tell her is haunted, she becomes obsessed with it, convinced the ghost of her recently deceased grandmother is living there.

Hama-Brown says the cave, located at Tofino㽶Ƶֱs Rosie Bay, was not only hard to find but 㽶Ƶֱexceptionally difficult㽶Ƶֱ to film in.

㽶ƵֱWhen the tide comes in, you will get trapped, so we only had three hours to work in the cave when we were there. Plus, we had a whole bunch of kids who we were bringing there and some gear that we had to walk in. It was something I was just terrified about doing until we got to it.㽶Ƶֱ

In the end, the scenes were well worth it. Hama-Brown says the tidal, seaweed-draped setting was integral to the film.

㽶ƵֱThe sense of place meant a lot to me. It㽶Ƶֱs the fact that the family is going to this remote island. I wanted to have the sense of being away and surrounded by water and almost trapped. I wanted there to be this sense of isolation.㽶Ƶֱ

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