As part of the Powell Street Festival, a screening of Hafu will be featured at the Firehall Arts Centre on August 3.  According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, one in forty-nine babies born in Japan today are born into families with one non-Japanese parent. This newly emerging minority in Japan is under-documented and under-explored in both literature and media. The feature-length HD documentary film, Hafu – the mixed-race experience in Japan, seeks to open this increasingly important dialogue. The film explores race, diversity, multiculturalism, nationality, and identity within the mixed-race community of Japan. And through this exploration, it seeks to answer the following questions: “What does it mean to be hafu?”, “What does it mean to be Japanese?” – and ultimately, “What does all of this mean for Japan?”

Narrated by the hafus themselves, along with candid interviews and cinéma vérité footage, the viewer is guided through a myriad of hafu experiences that are influenced by upbringing, family relationships, education, and even physical appearance. As the film interweaves five unique life stories, audiences discover the depth and diversity of hafu personal identities.

Website: http://hafufilm.com/en

Sunday August 3rd at the Firehall Arts Centre from 4pm to 5:30pm (87 min screening).