The Cinematheque
1131 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Desiring Bodies: Double-Bill Film Screening for Mad Pride Month
In honour of Mad Pride Month, Cinevolution and Connection Salon are proud to present a double-bill film screening of the NFB short documentary, Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen? by Eisha Marjara, and the independent feature film, Sisters, by Ying Wang.
Exquisitely crafted and unflinchingly honest, the films look beyond typical narratives about body image and societal beauty standards to shed light on eating disorders as reflections of a disordered society within the context of migration and displacement.
A discussion with the filmmakers will follow.
Register for your free ticket at Desiring Bodies: Double-Bill Film Screening for Mad Pride Month
Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen?
Director: Eisha Majara | 2024 | 24 min | Documentary
“Hey, let’s go on a diet together.” As kids in a small Quebec town, Eisha and Seema were more than sisters, they were soul mates, and a joint diet offered a shared sense of purpose.
But their carefree project would take a dark turn, pushing Eisha to the very brink of death. Consumed by anorexia, she found herself battling her own fragile body—stranded between childhood and adulthood.
Decades later, she revisits her past in an exquisitely crafted work of auto-ethnography, evoking her unusual youth with aching lyricism. In addressing a tender love letter to the troubled girl she once was, she reaches contemporary audiences with a timely reflection on body image and self-acceptance.
About the Director
Eisha Marjara has made several award-winning films, including Locarno’s Prix de la Semaine de Critique winner Desperately Seeking Helen. Venus (2017), a dramatic comedy, won the EDA Award for Best Feature at the Whistler Film Festival and Best Feature Film at Cinequest, among other accolades. Her debut YA novel Faerie, which traces a South Asian teenager’s downward spiral into life-threatening illness, budding sexuality and complicated recovery from anorexia, received rave reviews in the Canadian and American press. She is completing her next feature, Calorie.
and
Sisters // Director: Ying Wang | 2005 | 86 min | Drama
In a sparsely furnished apartment in an unnamed city, two sisters live together, bound by love and fragile dependency. As the younger battles a severe eating disorder, the older struggles to keep herself—and her sister—afloat. But the closer she gets, the more the line between savior and self-destruction begins to blur.
Sisters was born from the true experiences of Ying Wang and her younger sister Jie, who developed a severe eating disorder after immigrating to North America. In 2002, the sisters began co-writing the screenplay. With the help of friends and their modest savings, they completed the film between 2004 and 2005. Jie portrayed Ping, a fictionalized version of herself. Acting became a liberating act—her first real chance to speak her truth. The film marked the beginning of her slow but steady recovery.
About the Director
As a migrant navigating between cultures, Ying Wang is drawn to stories that probe the complexities of humanity and question accepted narratives. Sisters led her onto the creative path as a self-taught filmmaker. From 2007 to 2019, Ying worked on her second feature documentary, The World is Bright, an exploration of immigration and mental health through a broader social and political lens. The film received critical acclaim, winning the Sea to Sky Award at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival and the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and was later nominated for two 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. In 2026, Ying completed her third feature documentary, The Border.
ACCESSIBILITY
The theatre is wheelchair accessible and has four wheelchair spots with adjacent companion seats.
Universal washroom facilities are located on the ground floor, for use by people of all genders. The washrooms were renovated in 2023 and include private, single-stall toilets (no urinals). There is a button-operated motorized entry door, and two wheelchair accessible stalls.
- The main restroom doorway width is 39 inches
- The accessible stalls doorway width is 35 inches
- The sink countertop height is 35 inches
- Soaps are scent free
To discuss your access needs, please contact us at info@cinevolutionmedia.com.