Creative Multimedia and Writing Proudly presents TIFF 2023 Interviews with James Michael Chiang and Marielle Dalpe

1. The Canadian short films Xie Xie (Thank You) Ollie and Aphasia recently premiered at the Toronto
International Film Festival (TIFF). Here is a profile on these directors as we spoke with them in a most
upbeat and casual way. We also bring you a video interview with Karsten Wall for the short film
Modern Goose.
About James Michael Chiang
Photo by: Steph Martyniuk
James Michael Chiang is the director for Xie Xie (Thank You) Ollie which is a short film about a bi-racial
man named Ollie (Oliver Chiang) who is trying to blend in with both his Chinese and Canadian heritage.
In terms of how Chiang came up with the idea for this film, he said it draws from his own background.

2. Oliver and James are brothers who are bi-racial like the character in the film and grew up in the larger
Toronto area.
He decided to venture forward with this during the time of the pandemic in 2020 when he had much
time to reflect. “There was lots going on at the time including the protests over George Floyd’s death. It
was also a time when initiatives were coming out appealing to BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color)
filmmakers in response to the need for more diversity. And then we came across Aasttha (producer).”
That’s when he decided to try to make the film.
How did the film get an Indian producer (Aasttha Khajuria)? Chiang remarks, “Oh yes. Aasttha has
been great to work with. She isn’t Chinese but she agreed to produce the film. I got to know her through
the BIPOC filmmaking initiative.”
In this short film, we witness much reading between the lines of Ollie’s dual identity whether it’s the
racist comments during the hockey game or the placing of the fork and knife in place of the chopsticks at
the dinner table. Was this part of clever storytelling or was this for the shortage of time? Or was this
because in Canadian society we see things done very subtly?
Photo by: TIFF
“A bit of all of these things I think,” replies Chiang. “But I definitely don’t see the need to spell
everything out. We need to trust the audience gets what you are trying to say.”
When one wonders whether it’s in situations like these afore-mentioned subtleties that a person may
feel left out in both scenarios, the director draws back to his childhood. “When we were growing up,
there wasn’t as much diversity as there is now. So you would stand out that much more.”

3. Given how people can impose a confused identity onto someone or perhaps not be so accepting, one
wonders what comfort in self-identity Chiang feels. “Ya, things have changed a lot since I was growing
up. There’s definitely more acceptance now then there was then.”
But how does he feel about his identity? “I feel I am a part of both cultures.”
Catch the review for Xie Xie (Thank You) Ollie in our reviews section.
About Marielle Dalpe
Photo by: Sandra Larochelle
Marielle Dalpe is the director of the 3-minute animated short film Aphasia about a woman suffering
from Alzheimer’s and struggling to articulate. When asked about whether this film was made out of
personal reasons or for generally raising social awareness, Dalpe answers, “I was inspired by my
grandmother’s situation because she had Alzheimer’s so I guess you can say it’s for personal reasons. I
saw how she had suffered, and I felt like I had to make something on this.
The filmmaker mentioned elsewhere how it took her many years to get funding to be able to make
Aphasia. To this, she says, “I graduated from Concordia in 2016 from the fine arts program so I have
been in the industry a long time. But without funding from the NFB (National Film Board), I would never
have been able to make this film. It just requires so many resources.”

4. As perhaps a bi-product of being a young animator who is adept with today’s modern technology and
the many innovations it provides, Dalpe speaks of the virtues of using Adobe Pro for images and After
Effects for sound. But does this make work more accessible for artists and does this by itself produce the
desired results?
“Oh certainly it’s made things more accessible. It costs a lot less because you can buy the software for
your computer and work from home.” But is it enough for someone to be a good artist and make a film
from home using these? “You still need to have work outside of this done at the studio. I had the NFB do
that for me.”
Photo by: TIFF
As for her views on animation becoming more accessible internationally to people in developing
countries, Dalpe says, “Definitely. It’s more accessible through software like these.” Were there any
open-source versions of these she would recommend? Or how else might she recommend people try
animating projects on their own? “I don’t know enough about open-source software to suggest
anything. But there are other simpler things people can try.”
“You can try a basic style of animation where you draw an image on each page using a flipbook. Or you
can click pictures of drawings you made from your cellphone and then put them together into a video
using basic editing software.”
Catch the review for Aphasia in our reviews section.