Niagara-on-the-Lake winery Marynissen Estates will be featured in a CBC documentary on Chinese investment in Canadian agriculture airing this month.

"My Farmland," directed by Diana Dai, focuses on three families and how their communities react to people from a different culture acquiring local land. Two of the families are in Saskatchewan farming communities, the other is the Yang family, which purchased Marynissen Estates in 2012.

Manager Simon Zhang, whose wealthy uncle obtained the property, shares stories of local resistance to the ownership while learning how to run a winery: "At the beginning, I didn't even know the name of the grapes."

Dai brings her own perspective to the film — she emigrated from China 24 years ago to start over "in a country with very different cultural and socio-ecomics."

The stories are told against the backdrop of declining Canada-China relations and the backlash against Chinese investment in Canada.

"The purchase of the historic Marynissen winery by a Chinese investor is a perfect example of the challenges faced when these sort of transitions happen, when people from the east work with people from the west," said Dai.

"Change is always hard for everyone, plus there is a cultural, language and experience gap here that had to be faced. I wanted 'My Farmland' to follow the process with fairness to all factions."

The film premières on CBC Docs POV at 9 p.m. March 15, and is available to stream on CBC Gem starting at noon that day.

John.Law@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1644 | @JohnLawMedia