The Offering (1966 film)

The Offering is a Canadian romantic drama film, directed by David Secter and released in 1966.[1] One of the first Canadian films ever to depict an interracial relationship, the film portrays a romance between Mei-Lin (Kee Faun), a dancer with a touring Peking opera company, and Gordon (Ratch Wallace), a stagehand at the theatre in Toronto where the troupe is performing.[2] Philip Givens, the real-life mayor of Toronto at the time the film was made, appears in the film as himself;[3] the cast also includes Ellen Yamasaki and Marvin Goldhar.

The film was shot in part at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre.[1]

The film was more poorly received than Secter's 1965 film Winter Kept Us Warm,[4] and because Secter had largely worked with non-union crew, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees intervened to prevent the film from being screened theatrically anywhere outside of Toronto.[5]

Soon after the film's release, Secter abandoned most of his new projects and moved to New York City, where he joined a bohemian artists' commune and worked as a theatre director, and did not direct another film until the low-budget sex comedy Getting Together in 1976.