Alice au pays des gros nez

Directed by Nicole Giguère

Alice is the daughter, the ‘oriental pearl’, of filmmaker Nicole Giguère. ‘Big Noses’ is the familiar Chinese term for Westerners such as Nicole. In the late 1980s, Quebec led the way in adopting children from The People’s Republic of China. Since then, over 5,000 Chinese children, mostly girls, have found a home in Quebec. This documentary follows Alice over a span of ten years, as she and many of her friends face the challenges of growing up in a white world. The one hour program presents Big Nosed parents and their Chinese daughters, sharing their love, concerns and expectations as they learn to adopt each other. Members of Quebec’s long established Chinese community also express their views on this emotional and sometimes controversial issue. The film is a portrait of an ever-changing world, and shows how the presence of so many new Quebecers with almond-shaped eyes can contribute to the evolution of our society.