NEXT SCREENING

INITIAL D: CAR SHOW & SCREENING

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Car Show @ 4 - 7PM, Screening @ 8 - 10PM (Doors at 7:30PM)
Historic Firehall No.1 Community Courtyard - 104 6 Ave SE
Car Show Admission: FREE
Screening Admission: $5 (Drink and snack included)

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Start your engines as we gear up for INITIAL D, a car show and screening! Since the 1990s and 2000s, the car import scene has been a vital cultural space for the Asian diaspora, including Chinese youth in North America. Modifying Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) vehicles allowed the diaspora to take pride in Asian engineering and forge distinct identities against Eurocentric car culture. Brands like Honda, Acura, and Toyota were canvases for creativity, community building, and cultural expression for second-generation immigrants.The FREE car show is brought to you by Compact Tuning Lab with DJ ChargedUp providing the tunes. In the evening, we will screen the 2005 Hong Kong action film INITIAL D (頭文字D) directed by Andew Lau and Alan Mak of Infernal Affairs fame. This also marked the acting debut of Jay Chou, a Taiwanese singer-songwriter who is known as the 'King of Mando-pop'.This event is supported by the City of Calgary Historic Firehall #1 Courtyard Activation Grant.ABOUT COMPACT TUNING LAB:
Calgary’s Compact Tuning Lab has been building serious Japanese and European performance cars for decades, from full turbo setups and computer-tuned engines to show-ready exterior and interior work. They’re the real deal, and we’re proud to have them as a partner for Initial D: Car Show & Screening. Expect their builds to be in the mix.ABOUT DJ CHARGEDUP:
DJ ChargedUp brings a deep love of music and a natural instinct for reading the crowd to every set. Based in Calgary, he delivers open-format sets that blend genres seamlessly while keeping the energy locked on the dance floor. With deep experience in the events industry and performances across Canada and as far as Berlin, ChargedUp knows exactly when to push the energy into high gear.ABOUT THE VENUE:
Historic Fire Hall 1 is a City of Calgary owned 1911 heritage building. The building was vacated by the Calgary Fire Department in 1973 and was leased to Budget Rent-a-Car from 1989 to 2019. Currently, the City and cSPACE are exploring the transformation of the site into a vibrant arts and culture hub.

Initial D (頭文字D) | Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak | 2005 | Hong Kong | 107 min. | Cantonese with English subtitlesInitial D (頭文字D) is a 2005 Hong Kong action film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak (Infernal Affairs trilogy). It is a film adaptation of the Japanese manga and anime series of the same name, about an 18-year-old who delivers tofu for his retired race car driver father, but by night, it's the teen's turn to take the wheel. After winning his first competition, Takumi Fujiwara (Jay Chou) focuses his attention on drift racing, a sport he has unknowingly perfected while delivering tofu in his father's Toyota AE86.

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PAST SCREENINGS

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THE TEAM

We are a team of volunteers from all different backgrounds, that came together through our love of Calgary's Chinatown and films that speak to the Chinese diaspora community. The team consists of:Vicki Van Chau, Carrie Yap, Wilson Wong, Alice Lam, Lyndi Woo

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