While recovering from the same traffic accident, Fleming acquired 16 mm film reels, home movies of her great-grandfather, the mysterious Asian magician,
Long Tack Sam. Intrigued, she went to find out more about how a
Chinese man could have been a successful
vaudeville star during days of political strife and racial tension in the early 20th century who was, as the film later reveals, world-renowned, yet forgotten. As a narrator and character herself in the story, Fleming traces her grandfather's footsteps all over the world, from
Canada to the
United States,
China,
England,
Austria and later back to Canada. Her journey for clarity proves difficult when contradicting origin stories for Long emerge. Daniella Trimboli argues that instead of focusing on multiplicities, Fleming deconstructs the idea of singular truth by blending traditional
documentary forms with her non-conventional storytelling techniques. An example of this is Fleming's profession directly affecting Long's; the movies were overtaking
vaudeville in the American mainstream entertainment business. Trimboli also notes that the film can be a useful tool for engaging in
cosmopolitanism with its 'persistent self-reflexivity' on the ideas and themes of cultural differences,
ethnic identity, and
orientalism. In 2007, Fleming made a
graphic novel adaptation of the film which won the Doug Wright "Best Book Award" for graphic novels in 2008 and had two Eisner award nominations. ==Filmography==