"Niro addresses the blending of two cultures living in extreme colonial oppression — and wraps a punch of painful reality within warmth, love and laughter."
Recently, I visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York City to view an exhibition of Shelley Niro's work entitled "500 Year Itch". Along with her stunning visual art collection, the museum hosted a special screening of her new film Cafe Daughter.
Based on a play written by Kenneth T. Williams, the story is about a Cree-Chinese girl growing up in the 1960s. My part in the film, which I am excited and honoured to have created, is the musical score.
One of the songs in the movie is sung by Candace Twance, an Anishinaabe artist from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The song is reminiscent of 60's era music and her vocals sweetly deliver the contrariness of life that the main character experiences.
There are pieces of cultural history between Canada's Indigenous, Chinese immigrants, and Canadians indicative of this country's dark and severe growing pains. The history of intermarriage between Cree and Chinese is not so well known in Canada, and the Cafe Daughter story is poignantly informative.
The film is based on the life story of Senator Lillian Dyck. It portrays a Cree child protected behind her father's Chinese identity living in a small Saskatchewan town. Niro addresses the blending of two cultures living in extreme colonial oppression and in true Niro style, wraps a punch of painful reality within an experience of warmth, love and laughter.
(Shelley Niro, director and ElizaBeth Hill, composer, Smithsonian NMAI, New York, New York. June 2023.)