After spending 16-years with the Theatre Royal in Barkerville Historic Town, a former Wells woman was recognized for her work by the Los Angeles Film Awards.
Amy Newman won Best Costume Design for the video Nam Sing: A Man for Gold Country that was produced by Winter Quarter Productions and the New Pathways to Gold Society.
Newman said being the costume designer for the film was a big deal for her, and she was more than humble when asked how she felt receiving the award.
“It was a marvelous experience and certainly really exciting to win, however, I’d like to say that really the most important thing about winning is, beyond my own name being on a nice little award sheet, it’s the fact that this brings this film to a wider audience. That’s the most important part about it”.
New Pathways to Gold Society Indigenous Co-Chair Cheryl Chapman said “It’s great to see Newman’s work rewarded and Nam Sing’s story celebrated, especially his connection with BC’S Indigenous peoples”.
“Being the costume designer of the Nam Sing recreation and film is a big deal to me.” Newman said, who also helped film the event, “I understand what it means to be an immigrant in a strange, new land”.
Newman added “I came to Canada from the U.S. My great-grandfather came from Scotland, my great-great-great-grandmother came across the plains in a covered wagon. As we have searched the world over for opportunities, so did Nam Sing”.
Nam Sing came to BC from China in 1858, He worked as a miner near Yale before heading for the Cariboo to run a pack train between Quesnel and Barkerville. His multicultural crews delivered produce and other goods to the miners, merchants, gamblers, and dreamers in Barkerville, the capital of the Cariboo Gold Rush.
In addition to the Los Angeles Film Award, the Nam Sing documentary is a finalist for Best Documentary and Best Costume Design in the Indie Short Fest and a semi-finalist in the Top Shorts Festival.