NFB Collection
Aftermath: The Legacy of Suicide
200150 min 5 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Lisa Fitzgibbons
Production: Jacques Ménard
Script: Lisa Fitzgibbons
How can children accept a parent's death when it is shrouded in silence, evasions and half-truths? The children live with a legacy of grief and guilt, feeling abandoned and always wondering, "Was it my fault?"
Filmmaker Lisa Fitzgibbons grew up with the uneasy feeling that things were not as they seemed. Then she finally learned that her father had ended his life. Surprised to discover that she is not alone, she reaches out to other survivors and meets two people who also lost their fathers to suicide at an early age. Robert describes the 30 long years it took to force the truth into the open. Anne-Marie still regrets her refusal as a child to kiss her father goodbye before leaving for school that last morning.
We listen to their stories, presented simply and compassionately against a background of poetic images. In speaking of their experiences, buried emotions resurface. Hope is reborn as all three come to terms with their fathers' death - and with their own lives.
In French with English subtitles.
Availability
Other versions
Subject categories
- Psychology and Psychiatry > Family LifeLife and DeathPsychological ProcessesSuicide
- Families > Parent-Child Relationships
- Family Studies/Home Economics > Child Development
- Media Education > Documentary Film
- Health/Personal Development > Mental Health/Stress/Suicide
Credits
- participant
- Anne-Marie Bégin
- Caroline Bégin
- Claire Bégin
- Jean-Olivier Bégin
- Ariane Lussier-Thuot
- Éléonore Lussier-Thuot
- Robert Thuot
- Sarah Villeneuve
- writer
- Lisa Fitzgibbons
- director
- Lisa Fitzgibbons
- script consultant
- Georgette Duchaine
- director of photography
- François Vincelette
- director of photography - assistant
- Pierre Lachapelle
- location sound
- Marie-France Delagrave
- picture editing
- Sarah Bachinski
- sound design
- Daniel Toussaint
- music editing
- Daniel Toussaint
- production manager
- Doris Lapierre
- consulting psychologist
- Sophie Péchère
- additional research
- Mireille Vézeau
- stills photographer
- Brian Deines
- dialogue editor
- Francine Poirier
- narration
- Lisa Fitzgibbons
- re-recording
- Serge Boivin
- Jean Paul Vialard
- online editing
- Sylvain Desbiens
- titles
- Louise Overy
- subtitles
- Kathleen Fleming
- technical coordination
- Marysol Moran
- distribution officer
- Nicole Côté
- administrative assistant
- Joanne Bélisle
- assistant to the producer
- Françoise Dutan
- producer (development)
- Yves Bisaillon
- producer
- Jacques Ménard