Discussion: Asian women and colonial heritage
How are imaginaries about Asian women constructed?
Based on the graphic novel Héritages, sociologist Sophie Hamisultane and illustrator Sandra Desmazières open a space for reflection on colonial legacies, stereotypes, and the lived experiences of Asian women from migrant families.
Description
Héritages shows us how ‘Asian’ women are perceived through colonial imagery. This event will be an opportunity to present the comic book and share thoughts on what women of new ‘Asian’ generations born to migrant parents may experience.
The screenplay is based on stories from Sophie Hamisultane’s research, illustrated by Sandra Desmazières (César 2026, Best Animated Short Film).
Héritages’ Synopsis
Mai is a student. She goes to the swimming pool every Thursday. A young man approaches her. But on this particular day, a phrase she has heard so many times before upsets her: ‘You’re cute… I love little Asian girls.’ Throughout the day, Mai thinks back on everything her mother and grandmother have been through since they left Vietnam in 1980. She questions how Asian women are perceived and where this image comes from.
The project’s research team
Roxane Caron, Professor, School of Social Work, Université de Montréal
Julie Quynh Nhi Tran, PhD student, School of Social Work, Université de Montréal
Media
Sandra Desmazières
Born in 1978, Sandra Desmazières studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where she discovered animation. Her graduation film Sans queue ni tête won the Cartoon d’Or award in 2003. She directed Le Thé de l’Oubli in 2008 and Bao in 2011, produced by Films de l’Arlequin. During and between film productions, Sandra also works as a children’s illustrator.
Her latest albums are ‘Maï Anh,’ written by Didier Dufresne and published by Mango Jeunesse in 2020, and ‘Le chemin de Sophie,’ written by Sophie Geoffrion and published by L’Initiale in 2023. She also works as a comic book colourist for “La disparition de Joseph Mengele” by Olivier Guez, Matz and Jörg Mailliet, published by Les Arènes in 2022.
Her latest film, ‘LES FILLES DE L’EAU’ (The Water Girls), produced by Caïmans Production and Arte, was released in early 2025. It won the 2026 César Award for Best Animated Short Film. It was also selected for the Toronto and Cannes film festivals.
Her previous film, ‘COMME UN FLEUVE’ (Nhu môt dòng sông), produced by Les Films de l’Arlequin and the NFB (CANADA), was selected for more than 90 festivals and shortlisted for the 2022 César Awards and 2022 Oscars.
Sophie Hamisultane
Sophie Hamisultane is a clinical sociologist and professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Montreal. Her research focuses on the psychosocial complexity of intercultural relations, taking into account socio-historical processes (colonisation) and intergenerational transmission (migratory heritage), particularly in the self-construction of people of racialised migrant descent. She is co-director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Intersectional Justice, Decolonisation and Equity (CRI-JaDE).
She has written several articles in scientific and popular journals, books, including Trouble dans l’interculturalité, published by L’Harmattan, and has collaborated on the production of an educational web series against racism and a podcast series entitled ‘Être une jeune femme de nouvelle génération vietnamien née au Canada’ (Being a young woman of the new Vietnamese generation born in Canada).
With
Sandra Desmazières
Sophie Hamisultane
