Seeking Wh(y)
Kingston, Canada | Film Feature
Documentary, Family
I'm returning to China to find the father who abandoned me when I was 3. My search uncovers buried family secrets and explores how childhood loss shapes one's identity, mental health, and what we pass on. Now I'm a mother to three sons, and I’m determined to break that cycle for future generations.
Seeking Wh(y)
Kingston, Canada | Film Feature
Documentary, Family
1 Campaigns | Ontario, Canada
Green Light
This campaign raised C$18,928 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
153 supporters | followers
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I'm returning to China to find the father who abandoned me when I was 3. My search uncovers buried family secrets and explores how childhood loss shapes one's identity, mental health, and what we pass on. Now I'm a mother to three sons, and I’m determined to break that cycle for future generations.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Why did my father leave?
When I was three, my father left our family in China. Some say it was because of the one-child policy, but only my mom knows. She left shortly after to make a better life for us in America, and I didn't see her for 6 long years. By then, she had a new family and a newborn son. I've spent my whole life feeling like the child not chosen.
What does familial abandonment and trauma do to a person? And how do we carry the pain from our childhoods into the rest of our lives? I'm confronting my mother after many decades of separation and silence, and I'm going to China to find my father. This documentary follows the process through a three-fold timeline of past, present, and future.
The “Y” in Seeking Wh(y) represents the Y chromosome, the symbol of sons, and the question that has shaped my life: Why?
Chinese by birth, American by upbringing, and Canadian by naturalization. Stuck between those worlds. It's a feeling that the Asian diaspora everywhere can understand.
Stories were a world I could escape to. I immersed myself in films at a young age. I've spent the last two decades working on shows and productions, but never felt brave enough to share this story...until now.
Kaycee, age 13.
On set
I just had my last baby, and now, as a mother of three little boys, the space left by my father feels more painful than ever before. I can't help but wonder...
How do you raise your children when you don't even know half your story?
I've put lots of emotional work over the years, and I want to be an advocate for speaking up about mental health, something that is still stigmatized, especially in the Asian community, because therapy and talking openly about my past were my saving grace. This journey is the last piece of the puzzle to healing.
This January, I was laid off 2 weeks after returning from maternity leave. It gave me the kick in the a** I needed to finally share my story and jump into this film fully. It's time to find my father, speak truthfully with my mother, and find the answers I've searched for my whole life.
The funds from this campaign support Seeking Wh(y)'s first production phase.
I’ve applied to several arts and public grants, but documentary funding is highly competitive and often takes years to secure. Crowdfunding allows us to start filming now, capturing moments that can’t wait, and build momentum for the film.
(For context, most theatrical documentary features cost $300,000+)
MyChinaRoots — Confirmed research and fixer support for the film’s search process, including genealogy research and on-the-ground assistance in China to trace family history and locations.
HF Care — Non-profit organization healthcare partner supporting culturally grounded mental health engagement, participant well-being, and outreach connected to the film’s themes of abandonment, identity, and healing.
Chinese Canadian Association of Kingston & District — Supporting community outreach, cultural engagement initiatives, and connections to broader cultural and governmental networks.
Kingston Canadian Film Festival & Kingston Film Office — Supporting the project’s development through mentorship, networking, and industry connections.
Natalie Fader — CBT-based nutritional therapist and digital creator with an audience of 169K+ followers, attached as an audience engagement partner to support awareness and community conversation around the film’s mental health and motherhood themes.
Seeking Wh(y) has been developed through the Banff World Media Festival Bell Media National Fellowship, CMPA’s Producer’s Accelerator, Hot Docs Producer’s Accelerator, and the Moving Picture Institute's Documentary Filmmakers Workshop.
The film recently won the Kingston Canadian Film Festival's Script to Screen Pitch Competition, and the project is gaining traction in the media and in communities in North America 🔥
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Kaycee Leigh
Director, Seeking Wh(y)
AI Disclosure: Some of the incentive images were AI-generated. The illustrated courtroom scene at the beginning of the video was AI-generated. I will work with a paid artist to create this scene for the film.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and audio rentals
Costs C$4,300
A portable cinema camera and pro audio kit help us capture intimate vérité moments across three locations with a small, flexible crew.
Flights
Costs C$3,500
Only the Director and DP are flying, our crew is local. Travel is still expensive, and your support helps get us where the story unfolds.
Crew Payment
Costs C$4,000
Our crew is contributing their time and expertise out of belief in this story. Your support helps us offer a modest payment for their work.
Post Production
Costs C$4,200
Help us transform raw footage into a powerful story through editing, sound design, and color grading that will bring this film to life.
China-based researcher/fixer
Costs C$2,000
Finding answers requires local knowledge. Your support helps us hire local researchers, translators, and fixers who specialize in this work.
Cash Pledge
Costs C$0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Hey 👋 Kaycee Leigh, a filmmaker and producer based in Canada. With over 15 years of experience, I bring my broadcast and narrative experience into my documentary work. My documentary practice centres on intimate and authentic storytelling that often challenges the ways characters and narratives have traditionally been portrayed in popular media, especially Asian characters. I've worked in the film and TV industry for two decades.
Some of my accolades are:
Kingston Canadian Film Festival Script to Screen competition - Winner
Kingston Canadian Film Festival Doc Factory - Selected participant
Bell Media Banff World Media Festival - National fellow
Canadian Media Producer's Association - Producer mentee
Hot Docs Producer's Accelerator - Selected participant
I've worked on:
- The Juno Awards (CTV)
- But I'm Chris Jericho (Bell Media web series)
- Never Ever Do This At Home (Discover Channel)
- Hard Rock Medical S. 2 (TVO)
- The London Olympic Games (CTV)
- Entertainment Tonight Canada (Global TV)
I've directed and produced commercial and storytelling projects like these:
My debut short documentary, To Labour, with Love, premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival and was nominated for Best First-Time Director at the Toronto International Women's Film Festival.
Seeking Wh(y), we’re working with a team committed to telling this story with honesty, care, and a strong cinematic vision.
Tanya Hoshi, Producer
Tanya Hoshi is an award-winning Canadian producer who specializes in producing impactful documentaries. Her recent work includes the feature documentary We Will Be Brave acquired by CBC Gem, and short documentary Turning Tables, acquired by CNN’s Great Big Story. Tanya is a two-time recipient of the Telefilm Talent to Watch Program and her projects have screened at notable festivals, including Hot Docs and TIFF.
Gayle Ye, Cinematographer
Gayle Ye is an award–winning cinematographer working across film and television. They received a Daytime Emmy for Odd Squad and has earned Canadian Screen Awards for their cinematography on Paying for It and Late Bloomer. Their work has screened internationally, including at Cannes and Tribeca, and is recognized for its emotional precision and naturalistic, character-driven visual style. In 2021, Gayle was the first gender-fluid person of colour and the youngest person to win a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lighting Design.
My China Roots, researcher and fixer
My China Roots is a global leader in research services dedicated to helping the Chinese diaspora trace their ancestry, family history, and relatives in China.
Helena Debnam, Marketing Advisor
Helena is an award-winning strategist with over 25 years of experience leading communications, audience engagement, and storytelling initiatives across Canada.
Colin Morley, Researcher
Colin is a journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University and a historian whose academic work has focused on archival research, historical, and genealogical storytelling.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Why did my father leave?
When I was three, my father left our family in China. Some say it was because of the one-child policy, but only my mom knows. She left shortly after to make a better life for us in America, and I didn't see her for 6 long years. By then, she had a new family and a newborn son. I've spent my whole life feeling like the child not chosen.
What does familial abandonment and trauma do to a person? And how do we carry the pain from our childhoods into the rest of our lives? I'm confronting my mother after many decades of separation and silence, and I'm going to China to find my father. This documentary follows the process through a three-fold timeline of past, present, and future.
The “Y” in Seeking Wh(y) represents the Y chromosome, the symbol of sons, and the question that has shaped my life: Why?
Chinese by birth, American by upbringing, and Canadian by naturalization. Stuck between those worlds. It's a feeling that the Asian diaspora everywhere can understand.
Stories were a world I could escape to. I immersed myself in films at a young age. I've spent the last two decades working on shows and productions, but never felt brave enough to share this story...until now.
Kaycee, age 13.
On set
I just had my last baby, and now, as a mother of three little boys, the space left by my father feels more painful than ever before. I can't help but wonder...
How do you raise your children when you don't even know half your story?
I've put lots of emotional work over the years, and I want to be an advocate for speaking up about mental health, something that is still stigmatized, especially in the Asian community, because therapy and talking openly about my past were my saving grace. This journey is the last piece of the puzzle to healing.
This January, I was laid off 2 weeks after returning from maternity leave. It gave me the kick in the a** I needed to finally share my story and jump into this film fully. It's time to find my father, speak truthfully with my mother, and find the answers I've searched for my whole life.
The funds from this campaign support Seeking Wh(y)'s first production phase.
I’ve applied to several arts and public grants, but documentary funding is highly competitive and often takes years to secure. Crowdfunding allows us to start filming now, capturing moments that can’t wait, and build momentum for the film.
(For context, most theatrical documentary features cost $300,000+)
MyChinaRoots — Confirmed research and fixer support for the film’s search process, including genealogy research and on-the-ground assistance in China to trace family history and locations.
HF Care — Non-profit organization healthcare partner supporting culturally grounded mental health engagement, participant well-being, and outreach connected to the film’s themes of abandonment, identity, and healing.
Chinese Canadian Association of Kingston & District — Supporting community outreach, cultural engagement initiatives, and connections to broader cultural and governmental networks.
Kingston Canadian Film Festival & Kingston Film Office — Supporting the project’s development through mentorship, networking, and industry connections.
Natalie Fader — CBT-based nutritional therapist and digital creator with an audience of 169K+ followers, attached as an audience engagement partner to support awareness and community conversation around the film’s mental health and motherhood themes.
Seeking Wh(y) has been developed through the Banff World Media Festival Bell Media National Fellowship, CMPA’s Producer’s Accelerator, Hot Docs Producer’s Accelerator, and the Moving Picture Institute's Documentary Filmmakers Workshop.
The film recently won the Kingston Canadian Film Festival's Script to Screen Pitch Competition, and the project is gaining traction in the media and in communities in North America 🔥
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Kaycee Leigh
Director, Seeking Wh(y)
AI Disclosure: Some of the incentive images were AI-generated. The illustrated courtroom scene at the beginning of the video was AI-generated. I will work with a paid artist to create this scene for the film.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera and audio rentals
Costs C$4,300
A portable cinema camera and pro audio kit help us capture intimate vérité moments across three locations with a small, flexible crew.
Flights
Costs C$3,500
Only the Director and DP are flying, our crew is local. Travel is still expensive, and your support helps get us where the story unfolds.
Crew Payment
Costs C$4,000
Our crew is contributing their time and expertise out of belief in this story. Your support helps us offer a modest payment for their work.
Post Production
Costs C$4,200
Help us transform raw footage into a powerful story through editing, sound design, and color grading that will bring this film to life.
China-based researcher/fixer
Costs C$2,000
Finding answers requires local knowledge. Your support helps us hire local researchers, translators, and fixers who specialize in this work.
Cash Pledge
Costs C$0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Hey 👋 Kaycee Leigh, a filmmaker and producer based in Canada. With over 15 years of experience, I bring my broadcast and narrative experience into my documentary work. My documentary practice centres on intimate and authentic storytelling that often challenges the ways characters and narratives have traditionally been portrayed in popular media, especially Asian characters. I've worked in the film and TV industry for two decades.
Some of my accolades are:
Kingston Canadian Film Festival Script to Screen competition - Winner
Kingston Canadian Film Festival Doc Factory - Selected participant
Bell Media Banff World Media Festival - National fellow
Canadian Media Producer's Association - Producer mentee
Hot Docs Producer's Accelerator - Selected participant
I've worked on:
- The Juno Awards (CTV)
- But I'm Chris Jericho (Bell Media web series)
- Never Ever Do This At Home (Discover Channel)
- Hard Rock Medical S. 2 (TVO)
- The London Olympic Games (CTV)
- Entertainment Tonight Canada (Global TV)
I've directed and produced commercial and storytelling projects like these:
My debut short documentary, To Labour, with Love, premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival and was nominated for Best First-Time Director at the Toronto International Women's Film Festival.
Seeking Wh(y), we’re working with a team committed to telling this story with honesty, care, and a strong cinematic vision.
Tanya Hoshi, Producer
Tanya Hoshi is an award-winning Canadian producer who specializes in producing impactful documentaries. Her recent work includes the feature documentary We Will Be Brave acquired by CBC Gem, and short documentary Turning Tables, acquired by CNN’s Great Big Story. Tanya is a two-time recipient of the Telefilm Talent to Watch Program and her projects have screened at notable festivals, including Hot Docs and TIFF.
Gayle Ye, Cinematographer
Gayle Ye is an award–winning cinematographer working across film and television. They received a Daytime Emmy for Odd Squad and has earned Canadian Screen Awards for their cinematography on Paying for It and Late Bloomer. Their work has screened internationally, including at Cannes and Tribeca, and is recognized for its emotional precision and naturalistic, character-driven visual style. In 2021, Gayle was the first gender-fluid person of colour and the youngest person to win a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lighting Design.
My China Roots, researcher and fixer
My China Roots is a global leader in research services dedicated to helping the Chinese diaspora trace their ancestry, family history, and relatives in China.
Helena Debnam, Marketing Advisor
Helena is an award-winning strategist with over 25 years of experience leading communications, audience engagement, and storytelling initiatives across Canada.
Colin Morley, Researcher
Colin is a journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University and a historian whose academic work has focused on archival research, historical, and genealogical storytelling.