Filmmaker Aleem Karmali Received Two Awards for His Documentary “Thrown into Canada”

On November 12, 2023, the Vancouver Asian Film Festival wrapped up its 27th festival with the OVASIAN Awards Ceremony at BMO Theatre.

Aleem Karmali, the writer, director, and editor of the documentary film, Thrown into Canada: The Settlement of Asian Refugees from Uganda, took home two awards during the ceremony: Best Director for a Canadian Feature Film and Best Editing for a Canadian Feature Film. Thrown into Canada was nominated for four awards in total at the festival, including Best Canadian Feature Film and Best Cinematography for a Canadian Feature Film.

The film was previously nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Central Alberta Film Festival in Red Deer and is a Semi-Finalist for the upcoming Equality International Film Festival in Hollywood.

It has also been an official selection at the Tasveer South Asian Film Festival in Seattle, Waterloo Region Migration Film Festival, African Diaspora Cinema Festival in Italy, Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, and ETHOS Film Awards in Los Angeles. Upcoming screenings include the New York International Immigration Film Festival, African Film Festival in Kisumu, Kenya, and Muslim Film Festival in Australia.

In 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, announced that all South Asians had 90 days to leave the country. Among other countries, Canada offered an “honourable place” to almost 8,000 Ugandan Asian refugees.

The film explores Canada’s first major migration of non-European and non-white refugees, set against the backdrop of African post-colonialism, Idi Amin’s brutal military dictatorship, and changing Canadian attitudes to diversity. This story of struggle and hope became part of Canada’s conversations about refugees and cultural pluralism, and informed the Canadian response to future refugee movements.

The film features interviews with historians, Canadian immigration officials, and those who lived through the expulsion from the Ismaili, Goan, and Hindu communities. This includes Alberta’s 19th Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani, Canadian Senator Mobina Jaffer, Dr. Shezan Muhammedi, Prof. Karim H. Karim, Dr. Alyshea Cummins, novelist Tasneem Jamal, and Canadian immigration officer Michael Molloy, among others.

VAFF 2023 OVASIAN Award Winners: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzsLHm8s6JW/
Film Website: https://www.crescentproductions.com/thrown-into-canada
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086792775131
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/867591064