About Me
I'm an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker with a consuming curiosity about the world and a deep desire to explore personal stories. I've worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a reporter, producer and writer and am now working as a freelance writer/editor, multimedia storyteller and director.
Films & Videos
As a reporter with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.), I used to do short features that were broadcast nation-wide. These projects featured here are ones that have been produced independently.
Web Articles
I have written various pieces for different sites, including numerous food stories as the Asian Cuisine Writer for Suite 101.com and arts articles for Canada's alternative news site, rabble.ca. The stories cover a wide range of topics, from profiles to food reviews to a look at Canada's immigration system.
Print Articles
I have written many travel stories for newspapers and weeklies, covering a wide range of experiences. Included here is a special Mother's Day piece I did for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper.
Here's a selection of stories I have written for weekly and monthly publications, touching upon different issues
Columns
I began writing regular monthly columns for the CBC.ca site back in 2003 and continued through to about 2006. Here is a selection of those commentaries, musings on modern life, which were written under my "Café Chat" column title.
Travels With My Brother
Travels With My Brother is a 16-minute live-action/animated documentary exploring the relationship between Vas, a high-functioning autistic man, and his older sister Christine, who will one day be his guardian. Through a series of conversations circling on love, family, art, desire and destiny, the film delves into Vas' unique perception of the world...
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Iron Chef Morimoto's Cookbook
Iron Chef Morimoto is staring at me. His stern gaze graces the front of his new cookbook (DK Publishing, $40 US). And again, flipping to the introduction, one comes face-to-face with a full frontal eye lock. The chef shown in one of his restaurants, wearing a Japanese top and white apron. Funny thing about this 52-year-old chef...
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Remembering mother in the digital age
I bought a high-end digital video camera last year to film a documentary about twin Bengali brothers headed to Norway in search of their Nordic roots. When I started filming the parents of the brothers, a thought came to me: If I'm doing this for Bengali twins looking for their Nordic roots, maybe I should do it for my own family and, specifically, my mother and the Malaysian dishes she makes....
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We are Hockey
When I heard about the NHL players' lockout, I was saddened - much to my surprise. I've spent my life avoiding "Canada's game." I don't play it. I don't watch it. Yet, the game is lodged in my subconscious. I'm Canadian, after all.
The game was a big part of my childhood. Back when I was growing up in Calgary, my mother...
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April 2013
Travels With My Brother nabbed BEST NARRATIVE prize at the World Arts Film Festival -- held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Jacksonville, Florida, April 11 - 13th.
March 2013
Travels With My Brother appears as part of the Sprout Touring Festival in Eugene, Oregon on March 15th at the Wildish Community Theater It screens at the noon showing and at the 7 pm screening.
December 2012/ Early 2013:
Travels With My Brother captured the National Screen Institute of Canada's directing prize for their online film festival!
We are working on our "Citizen Autistic" interactive prototype, which will be launched in early 2013.
September 2012
We're working on our demo reel for the AUTISMLAND interactive project and on Sept. 21 & 22nd, Travels With My Brother will have its European Premiere at the look & roll festival in Basel, Switzerland! Co-director Christine Alexiou and I will be there.
April 2012
Travels With My Brother had its US premiere April 28 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York at the Sprouts Festival. My co-director and I made great new connections and friends. In September, the film will have its European premiere in Switzerland.
November 2011
Me and my co-director of Travels With My Brother Christine Alexiou, won the DocSHIFT Interactive Pitch Prize for our immersive website idea "AutismLand" We get development money to make our site a reality. Yay.
October 2011
Helping out with my friend and collaborator Evan Tapper at Toronto's NUIT BLANCHE on his "LISTENING PORTRAITS" was fun and inspiring. He created drawings of people based on their conversation with him. Kudos to him for his brave, innovative idea.
May 2011
David Hayes wrote a nice profile of me for his Lifelong Renter column in the Toronto Star!
Read the article.