SCREEN | 'It Takes A Village: An East Van Story' Gives Back x VAFF 2024

"Community is survival."

Vancouver Asian Film Festival

Vancouver native and first-time feature filmmaker Christopher Cho tells a tale of community in his Ugandan immigrant love letter to the neighbourhoods of East Vancouver. It Takes A Village: An East Van Story dives into the Mubanda family's move to Canada after escaping the violent Ugandan civil war under the brutal dictatorship of President Idi Amin.

Guided by the voices of the Mubanda brothers, Jonathan and David Mubanda, and their parents, the documentary recounts the immigrant family's dedication to becoming involved in their new Canadian home through generosity and kinship. Through them, their friends, mentors, and teachers, we see how they grew up with support from other multicultural adult figures who looked out for each other. It's an earnest retelling of the importance of social bonds between neighbours and strangers who share and hold space for each other.

Its exploration of youth through basketball mines typical material seen in many inspirational underdog sports movies based on true stories. However, its message still resonates through the real-life coach figure of Theresa Campbell (now the CEO of Safer Schools Together) who firmly believed in teaching her players valuable life lessons through authentic connections while also keeping them out of trouble.

Cho keeps it heatfelt and personal in his welcoming personal history of a generation of children of immigrants coming of age in one of East Van's many connected neighbourhoods. It Takes A Village has a very universal message of community told the specific experiences of one family and their friends. It's an inspiring documentation of the impact of others in empowering at-risk youth.

It Takes A Village: An East Van Story screened at the 2024 Vancouver Asian Film Festival as part of the Spotlight series.


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