“Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema
Scholars of critical regionalism have argued convincingly for a complex re-definition of regions/regionalism that examines the inherent mobility of cultures and their re-appropriation of place. This article aims to bring American-based critical regionalism into dialogue with research on Canada-U.S....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/10389 |
| _version_ | 1797310250112516096 |
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| author | Katherine A. Roberts |
| author_facet | Katherine A. Roberts |
| author_sort | Katherine A. Roberts |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scholars of critical regionalism have argued convincingly for a complex re-definition of regions/regionalism that examines the inherent mobility of cultures and their re-appropriation of place. This article aims to bring American-based critical regionalism into dialogue with research on Canada-U.S. cross-border regions, specifically the Pacific Northwest (Cascadia). I will examine an emerging aspect of western culture in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, i.e. a (post)regional space of flows governed by the hyper-volatile film and television/entertainment industry that links Vancouver to Los Angeles. The cinema of award-winning Vancouver auteur filmmaker Carl Bessai is illustrative of this phenomenon. Bessai’s two most recent films, Fathers and Sons (2010) and Sisters and Brothers (2011) feature characters in non-traditional families who desire to work in film and television in Los Angeles. Through caustic humor, the films engage in multiple levels of critique: of the dysfunctional nature of these cross-border families, but also of the superficiality of image-culture and the “forced” migration of talent who are sucked into the entertainment vortex. Analyzing these films through the lens of critical regionalism foregrounds “West Coastness” as a region of flows, of bodies in mobility/circulation yet—in the case of Bessai—without side-stepping the obvious asymmetries inherent in Canada’s complex and enduringly ambivalent relationship with the United States. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a11344e9ac74a1bbff6eb4f4a26409f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:12Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a11344e9ac74a1bbff6eb4f4a26409f2024-02-14T13:22:39ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93369310.4000/ejas.10389“Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver CinemaKatherine A. RobertsScholars of critical regionalism have argued convincingly for a complex re-definition of regions/regionalism that examines the inherent mobility of cultures and their re-appropriation of place. This article aims to bring American-based critical regionalism into dialogue with research on Canada-U.S. cross-border regions, specifically the Pacific Northwest (Cascadia). I will examine an emerging aspect of western culture in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, i.e. a (post)regional space of flows governed by the hyper-volatile film and television/entertainment industry that links Vancouver to Los Angeles. The cinema of award-winning Vancouver auteur filmmaker Carl Bessai is illustrative of this phenomenon. Bessai’s two most recent films, Fathers and Sons (2010) and Sisters and Brothers (2011) feature characters in non-traditional families who desire to work in film and television in Los Angeles. Through caustic humor, the films engage in multiple levels of critique: of the dysfunctional nature of these cross-border families, but also of the superficiality of image-culture and the “forced” migration of talent who are sucked into the entertainment vortex. Analyzing these films through the lens of critical regionalism foregrounds “West Coastness” as a region of flows, of bodies in mobility/circulation yet—in the case of Bessai—without side-stepping the obvious asymmetries inherent in Canada’s complex and enduringly ambivalent relationship with the United States.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/10389Canadian-American relationshipCritical regionalismWest CoastVancouver cinemaMobility |
| spellingShingle | Katherine A. Roberts “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema European Journal of American Studies Canadian-American relationship Critical regionalism West Coast Vancouver cinema Mobility |
| title | “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema |
| title_full | “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema |
| title_fullStr | “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema |
| title_short | “Somewhere in California”: New Regional Spaces of Mobility in Contemporary Vancouver Cinema |
| title_sort | somewhere in california new regional spaces of mobility in contemporary vancouver cinema |
| topic | Canadian-American relationship Critical regionalism West Coast Vancouver cinema Mobility |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/10389 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katherinearoberts somewhereincalifornianewregionalspacesofmobilityincontemporaryvancouvercinema |