Emily Gan: The art of self reflection and doing it differently

Her Story - Son Histoire à Elle

I was thrilled to have my friend Emily Gan on the podcast. Emily is a filmmaker who recently made some waves at the Hot Docs Festival. She won the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker award with her documentary Cave Birds and will be screened here in Montreal next week. The film follows her father who invested in a swiftlet bird nest business in Malaysia (rest assured the birds are safe), and as Emily says it's a subtle metaphor of her relationship with her father and that side of her family. It was so interesting to hear Emily speak about her journey of making the film and what she was confronted with throughout the process. Emily is a true artist and her take on what film represents and what she chooses to depict with a film is a refreshing and clear view of how we can experience our own lives. A moment in time. A frame of that single moment. She talks about how her yoga practice supported that view and how teaching yoga was at times a relief from the minutia of making a film. Emily's ability to be self reflective on her mistakes and life was inspiring and I was touched that she was so honest in this interview. I think those are qualities we can all aspire to have. Cave Birds will be screened at Cinema du Quartier Latin on Nov. 20th, 6pm & Cinema du Parc Nov. 22nd, 9pm www.emilygan.com