Educational Media Reviews Online

Everything Will Be is a beautifully filmed, meditative documentary about the recent cultural and class shift in Vancouver's historic Chinatown. Beginning the film with scenes of long-time residents and workers beginning their daily routines in the neighborhood, director Julia Kwan leads the audience deeper into both the joys and challenges they experience while being a part of the community. She also presents the point of view of newcomers trying to forge a new identity for the neighborhood and their interactions with long-time residents and business owners.

Kwan lets both new and established business owners and residents express their stories, thoughts and decisions about this shift in landscape. Through long-time residents’ negotiations with developers and amongst themselves, we learn how economic status, business interests, self-preservation, race and history are important factors in determining how a community changes. As perspectives from all sides of the story unfold, we cannot help but to wonder: who really wants this change and who gets to have the final say? Who will really benefit from the transformation of Chinatown? What will become of its elderly residents, business owners and the history they were a part of?

Poetic, understated and thoughtfully filmed with visual interludes of an ethnic enclave in transition, Everything Will Be is highly recommended for human relations and sociology courses focusing on gentrification, ethnic neighborhoods and urban issues. The film would also be useful for examining the phenomena of urban displacement and ethical practices in historical preservation.