NFB Collection
Cecil's Journey
200254 min 5 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Rohan Fernando
Production: Peter d'EntremontKent MartinSally BochnerCharles E. Doucet
Script: Rohan FernandoJohn Brett
Co-produced by Triad Film Productions Ltd. and the National Film Board of Canada in association with Vision TV, CFMT, with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund and the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, with the assistance of the Nova Scotia Film Industry Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and developed in association with CTV.
Rohan Fernando, a 26-year-old visual artist, leaves his home in Canada for a nine-week journey to Sri Lanka. The purpose of the trip is to take photos that will serve as inspiration for future paintings. Instead, it turns into a voyage of discovery in which he must confront the past he has all but forgotten, and in which long-buried family secrets are revealed.
Born in the northern town of Jaffna, he left the country with his family when he was only five. Now, he has returned for the first time--to a land that is both alien and shockingly familiar.
As Rohan (whose parents called him Cecil after they immigrated) discovers the intricate web of family relations binding him to caste, family and country, deep-seated questions about his own identity and self-image emerge.
Set against the backdrop of vicious fighting in the civil war between Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan government forces, Cecil's Journey is an intensely personal film with universal resonance. Informed by the perceptive eye Rohan has developed through his painting, this documentary challenges us to ask: What does it mean to be me?
Availability
Subject categories
- Developing Countries > Arts and CultureAsiaPolitics, Government and HistoryWar, Conflict and Peace
- Foreign Countries > Asia
- Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism > Asian Origins
- Visual Arts > Painting
Credits
- writer
- Rohan Fernando
- director
- Rohan Fernando
- producer
- Peter d'Entremont
- Kent Martin
- picture editor
- John Brett
- story editor
- John Brett
- director of photography
- Russell Geinapp
- music composer
- Asif Illyas
- executive producer
- Peter d'Entremont
- Sally Bochner
- Charles E. Doucet
- narration
- Rohan Fernando
- location sound
- Russell Geinapp
- Rohan Fernando
- Nancy Burgess
- additional photography
- Kent Nason
- Rohan Fernando
- transcripts
- Jean MacDonald
- assistant picture editor
- Ron Illingworth
- on-line picture
- Salter Street Digital
- audio post-production
- Salter Street Digital
- online editor
- Doug Woods
- re-recording mixer
- Allan Scarth
- dialogue editor
- Amy Miller
- ADR recordist
- Amy Miller
- foley artist
- Krista Wells
- sound design
- René Beaudry
- foley recordist
- Luc Léger
- post-production supervisor
- Rob Power
- project manager
- Victoria McGregor
- unit administrator
- Susanne Lively
- production accountant
- Stephen Fielding
- production assistant
- Steven May
- production secretary
- Marie Andrews
- program administrator
- John William Lutz
- production supervisor
- Patricia Coughran
Awards
- Award for Excellence in Music Composition - with a cash prize of 500$ and 10,000$ services to directorAtlantic International Film Festival
- Award for Best Atlantic Short Film - with a cash prize of 5,000$Atlantic International Film Festival