Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Johnny Ma discovered a unique creative spark in Winnipeg while shooting his latest feature film, The Mother and the Bear. The city's stark, windswept landscape became an essential character in this surreal comedy-drama, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
A Fish-Out-of-Water Tale with a Winnipeg Twist
The film centers on a classic cinematic premise with a fresh angle. An overbearing Korean mother travels to the cold, icy streets of Winnipeg after her daughter, Sumi, falls into a coma from a slip on the slippery pavement. Once there, she devises an unconventional plan: to catfish a suitable Korean-Canadian man to become her daughter's boyfriend upon her recovery.
Ma, who primarily lives in Vancouver but also spends time in Mexico, directed the project, which is a Canada-Chile co-production. He filmed entirely in Winnipeg over a concentrated period from March to April in 2023. Despite never having lived there long-term, Ma developed a clear affection for the city, portraying it with a distinctive warmth that contrasts with its frigid setting.
The Multicultural Genesis of a Canadian Story
The idea for The Mother and the Bear—Ma's first feature shot in Canada—was born at a film festival in Seoul. A conversation with a hostel operator worried about her daughter's dating life in North America ignited Ma's imagination. Initially, the story was set in Cincinnati, Ohio.
"I thought that they were going to mention Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and those cities and I was just thinking that's not the story. It doesn't work there," Ma explained. The location shifted when Canadian producer Niv Fichman of Rhombus Media joined the project and suggested Winnipeg, a city familiar to him from his work on Guy Maddin films.
Ma embraced the suggestion, finding Winnipeg to be the perfect, unexpected backdrop. The film stars renowned Korean actress Kim Ho-jung as the determined mother, Sara.
Winnipeg as a Uniquely Canadian Character
For Ma, whose previous features Old Stone (2016) and To Live to Sing (2019) were shot in China, filming in Canada represented a kind of homecoming. He moved to Toronto from Shanghai at age ten before becoming a filmmaker in Vancouver.
"I'm a unique Canadian, but I'm also uniquely Canadian," Ma reflected. He sees the film's blend of Korean, Chilean, and Canadian influences as a reflection of the country's identity. "This is a uniquely Canadian feature... It's a place of a lot of cultures."
He credits his upbringing in Toronto with teaching him how to communicate across cultural lines, a skill directly applied to this project that weaves together three distinct cultural perspectives. The Mother and the Bear stands as an organic, multicultural story that could only have found its full expression against the evocative and compelling backdrop of Winnipeg.
