Event: BC Premiere: Passage to Freedom (English) and Q&A
Date: April 29, 2023 (Saturday)
Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm (3:00-3:45pm - Informal Guided Tour with Stephanie Stobbe (HOF Exhibition Curator and Co-Researcher) and Michael Molloy (Co-Researcher)
Venue: Room 1800, Harbour Centre, SFU Vancouver Campus (515 West Hastings St., Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3)
Join us for the BC premiere of the English version of this new film Passage to Freedom (2023). The French version will be made available at a later date. Light refreshments will be served at this event.
Following the premiere, join guided tours at the exhibit by HoF principal researchers Dr Stephanie Stobbe & Mr. Michael Molloy at 3:00pm April 29 at SFU.
Passage to Freedom is a moving documentary that features oral histories of Southeast Asian refugees that made the dangerous journey from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to Canada. The film effectively weaves archival clips of news stories, wartime footage, and interviews with former refugees and Canadian immigration officials. New government policies and programs enabled Canada to resettle over 100,000 Southeast Asian refugees from 1975 to 1985. The Canadian response to the refugee crisis was recognized internationally with the awarding of the UNHCR Nansen Medal in 1986. The film delves into the harrowing and courageous journey of the refugees during the Vietnam War, the Secret Lao War, and the Cambodian Genocide; their struggles in settlement; and their resilience in starting a new life in a new country. It highlights their successful integration into the fabric of Canadian life and the contributions of this first generation and their descendants in Canada.
The film screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Dr. Stephanie Stobbe and Mr. Michael Molloy – two of the principal researchers of the oral history project that leads to the production of a national travelling exhibit and this documentary film.
Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe (principal researcher & curator of the travelling exhibit)
Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe is the Chair and Associate Professor in Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College (a College of Canadian Mennonite University) at the University of Winnipeg, and Associate Professor in the Redekop School of Business. She is the author and editor of multiple books, including Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in Laos: Perspective for Today’s World, and the Curator of the HOF – Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees travelling museum exhibition. Stephanie is an Expert Advisory Board member for Asia Pacific Refugees Studies at Auckland University in New Zealand, and President of Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies.
Mr. Michael Molloy (principal researcher & retired immigration official)
Michael James Molloy, co-author of Running on Empty: Canada and the Indochinese Refugee Movement 1975-80, has 40 years of experience in international and refugee affairs. In 1976, as Director of Refugee Policy, he was responsible for designing the refugee provisions of the 1976 Immigration Act including the sponsorship program and the Indochinese designated class that simplified the selection process for the Indochinese refugees.
This free program is brought to you by PCHC-MoM Society with support from the Government of Canada, City of Vancouver, SFU Vancouver, and in collaboration with Hearts of Freedom national partners & local partners.