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Tornado Project

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  • Memories in The Present

    Katherine Tibasosa, originally from Bogota, Colombia, moved to London, Ontario about a year ago with her husband and children. Katherine discusses the significance of weather, different regions in her country, and traditional foods. Moreover, since coffee is a very significant part of Colombian culture and Katherine's life, she opens up about how she keeps that aspect of her culture alive here in London. This video focuses on how she keeps the various aspects of her culture alive since moving from Colombia.

  • Integrating Japanese Culture into Canada

    In this portrait, Keiko Yano talks about the different aspects of the Japanese culture being adapted to Canada such as Girl’s Day and tea ceremony. She explains her participation in the community and her wish to keep the culture alive within her daughters. Keiko’s daughter, Erika, then briefly explains why she continues to learn the Japanese language. After that Keiko’s husband, Chris, describes the significance of Buddhism practices to him and discusses the activeness of the Japanese community in London. The portrait then ends with Keiko expressing her renewal of self and deeper appreciation in the Japanese culture by coming to Canada.

  • Raising Children in a German-Canadian Household: The Importance of Language and Culture

    This portrait follows the life of a German woman, Kordula, who immigrated to southwestern Ontario in 1999 in order to farm. The portrait specifically focuses on her journey in raising her children in a German-Canadian household. The portrait captures how she tried to preserve German traditions and the German language while raising her children amidst the backdrop of southwestern Ontario. It touches on why language is important to her and her children’s upbringing, indicating that it has allowed them to foster their German-Canadian identity. She also gives advice for families who have immigrated, and wish to continue teaching their children about their culture.

  • First Day of School: The Story of Iman's Son's First Day of School in Canada

  • Maintaining & Sharing your Cultural Identity: Through Education, Exposure, & Experience

    The video explores the cultural identity of Jose. A. Casanova, with a particular focus on how food serves as reminder of where he has come from. We not only talk about how food has shaped who he is today, but also the people who have influenced him significantly, including his mother. Over time, his core values have not diminished despite a change in location. Through passing on values from his Venezuelan culture and his wife’s Colombian culture to his children, he actively encourages them to be culturally humble and to embrace their diverse cultural identity. He does this by emphasizing that they are not just from one community, but they are from three: Canadian, Venezuelan and Colombian. He provides advice on the best way to preserve one’s cultural identity, so that one can maintain one’s roots and not forget where one has come from. He also stresses on the importance of helping others because having gone through the challenges that come with being a new immigrant in Canada himself, he realizes a little help can go a long way.

  • Exploring Connection and Disconnection to self with Dual Cultural Identities: Canadian and Italian

    The video is focused on the story of John and Marie Meren who are the children of Italian immigrants. John with both of his parents being from Sardinia and Marie being half Canadian. It Starts with brief overview of John’s parent’s immigration story, highlighting where they were from and their motivation to move to Canada (work opportunities). Next the video moves on to focus on John and Marie’s experiences, and how they negotiated their identities in relation to their Canadian and Italian mix. John discusses the languages he was raised with (Italian, Sardinian and English) and Marie explains why she always felt more Canadian and the reasons why she never learnt Italian. They explain how world events like WW2 led to their disconnection from their being Italian at some points. John connects his job as a lawyer and to his Italian heritage. Finally, they talk about the trip they took to Italy and how it impacted them and helped to define their connection with being Italian