The Girl with Big Feet
Director
Karin LeeProducers
Karin Lee Top Dollar Sisters ProductionsSubjects
Asian Studies Canadian History Colonialism Drama Families First Nations Gender Studies History Indigenous Languages Youth- Release Date 2024
- Running Time 30 minutes
- Closed Captions Yes
- Availability Worldwide
- Prix habituel
- $250.00
- Prix habituel
-
- Prix soldé
- $250.00
- Prix unitaire
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The Girl with Big Feet
Ts’ekooyaz Buke Ncha - Dakelh (Southern Carrier)
Aias Lipii Tanas Kluchmin - Chinook Jargon
大腳女孩 - Chinese
In a remote Canadian Gold Rush town, seven-year-old Foo-Ling would rather spend her days exploring the forest and practicing with her wooden sword than learning the skills expected of a proper young lady. Concerned about her daughter’s future marriage prospects, Foo-Ling’s mother hires a matchmaker to refine her free-spirited child into a more desirable wife. Meanwhile, Foo-Ling finds friendship and adventure with the grandson of the Indigenous caregiver employed by her family.
Determined to remain true to herself, Foo-Ling resists the expectations placed upon her. When she runs away to escape the matchmaker’s lessons, she unexpectedly finds herself in the right place at the right time. After overhearing an attack being planned on her father, who is transporting gold through the wilderness, Foo-Ling races back to town to summon help.
Through her courage, quick thinking, and determination, Foo-Ling proves to her family that the qualities they viewed as flaws are in fact her greatest strengths. Set against the backdrop of the Canadian Gold Rush, this heartwarming story celebrates individuality, friendship, and the importance of embracing who you are.
Film is open captioned in the following languages: English, French, Spanish, Chinese Mandarin, Chinese Toisan
Director: Karin Lee
Producers: Karin Lee, Top Dollar Sisters Productions
Artist’s Statement
“We often think of the Gold Rush as a white man’s story,” says director Karin Lee. “But Chinese settlers were here too—navigating traditions, racism, and alliances with First Nations communities. This film gives voice to a forgotten chapter of North American history.”
In a deeply resonant tale of female emancipation and cultural adaptation, “The Girl with Big Feet” (Ts’ekooyaz Buke Ncha) explores self-determination and the painful choices immigrant families face as they navigate a new homeland. The film stands out not only for its poignant message but for its use of four languages—Dakelh (Southern Carrier), Chinook Jargon, Chinese (Toisanese), and English—reflecting the complex multicultural reality of early settler life in British Columbia.
Director Karin Lee’s grandmother Tsang Foo-Ling grew up in Barkerville, BC (Lhtako Dene Nation) in the late 1800’s. Foo-Ling’s father Tsang Quon arrived in Canada in the late 1800 as a 14 year old boy and worked his way up to a businessman in Barkerville’s Chinatown. The family all learned to communicate with other cultures using the trade language Chinook Jargon, a West coast trade language that was the lingua franca before English became the dominant language of colonization.
This fiction film is inspired by Foo-Ling’s story when she was 7 years old - at a time when young Chinese girls in China may have their feet bound as a symbol of class. Filmmaker Lee’s great grandmother Ho-Shee did not escape this custom as a young girl in China. It was common practice for young girls to have their feet bound to resemble a lotus flower, to make them more attractive for marriage proposals. This practice continued up until 1949 when the communist government outlawed the practice.
The story follows Foo-Ling’s defiance not to get her feet bound. This is an important Canadian story, one that shows feminist resistance at such a young age, paving the way for Chinese women's independence in the "new world". However, Foo-Ling doesn’t do this on her own. She is supported by her mother’s caregiver - Ts’ek Sum - a Dene woman and her grandson Chilh, who help Foo-Ling experience freedom, while they themselves become subject to colonization and residential schools.
Lee uses Chinook Jargon in their earlier films - to centralize local First Nation languages and to remind us that English was not used before colonization on Turtle Island. This unique period film provides a context for early Chinese and First Nations relations, pre-colonization, and modern day diaspora, as new migrants today face challenges as they move to a new country, navigating new culture and customs. This universal experience of migration, adaptation and feminism is the inspiration of the film “The Girl with Big Feet”.
If your institution does not have a server or you are looking into a license for curated one-time events or fixed term exhibitions, please contact us.
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