Is yours a gift or a burden?
How much does your name shape your identity?
A mini documentary series into experiences of individuals with non-western first names, its link to their identity, and how it correlates to pressures of conforming to westernized English norms.
the film.
20 min, English, Documentary, UK & Canada
“My name is Jo. I was born of first name Javeria, but I was name biased so much when I was young that I decided to change my name to Jo in my teens.”
Deeply touched by those words during a lecture, Tony felt compelled to pursue this story further.
the episodes.
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Part I: our past.
“The ignorance of 30 or 40 years ago meant people thought they could repeat your name in what they thought was funny.”
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Part II: the new.
“If I want to be remembered or my name to be remembered, I would have to shorten it.”
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Part III: not just letters.
“I’m a person of color and South African. My name, all the politics that come with it, all of these other elements of who you are come into play.”
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Part IV: i have the right.
“Correcting your name, it’s just you being you, owning up to yourself and identifying with what are you.”
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Part V: a dilemma.
“Going through a process of reflexivity on why I changed my name…what potentially going back to my given name would entail.”
the team.
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Tony Giroux
Director / Filmmaker
Working both in front and behind the camera, Tony hopes to tell stories from the heart and explore both the possibilities and barriers to our unity.
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Dr. Javeria Khadija Shah
Principal Investigator
Founder of the Social Performance Network, Javeria is an artist and scholarly activist, whose work is interdisciplinary and aligns with the visual arts, sociology, policy, and education fields.
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Pereko Makgothi
Media Relations
Pereko Makgothi (she/her) is a creative South African actress, voice-over artist, content producer and co-founder of Last Looks Beauty Ltd: an afro/ethnic hair consultancy and agency for television, film, theatre and commercial productions.
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Kristina Lao
Entertainment Consultant
Kristina (she/her), is a consultant in Media & Entertainment and Multi-Disciplinary Artist from Hong Kong, currently residing on the unceded Traditional Coast Salish Lands including the Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw) and Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Nations, also known as Vancouver, BC.
