The Cinematheque

Immigration Policy

“Hindu Invaders Now in the City Harbor on Komagata Maru,” blared an alarmist headline in the Vancouver Sun on May 23, 1914. Indian-born, Toronto-based filmmaker Ali Kazimi’s documentary recounts the notorious Komagata Maru incident, when Canada, pursuing a Whites-only immigration policy, prevented a steamship carrying 376 migrants from British India from landing in Vancouver. After a two-month standoff, the vessel was forced to return to India, where the passengers were met with violence by British authorities. ​“Through archival footage, vintage photographic montage, and inventive voice-over performance, Kazimi documents the story of the 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus held on the boat a half mile from Canadian shores without provisions for more than two months. Continuous Journey is the work of an experienced storyteller and image-maker. Kazimi’s own journey from India has been a fortuitous event for Canada” (Leah McLaren, Globe and Mail).

“Meticulously researched, with rich archival moving images, and timely and prescient in terms of today’s discourses around systemic racism, White supremacy, colonization, the international movement of peoples, and anti-immigrant sentiment.” Harry Killas 

“Brilliant … Rarely has a documentary been so beautifully directed and rendered, shot for shot, image by image, pan by pan, zoom by zoom.” Peter Wintonick, POV Magazine