Aparita

The Toronto Star, [08/16/2002]

 

Cecil’s Journey part of Filmi festival at Harbourfront

It started out as an intellectual exercise: Go to Sri Lanka to document the current situation, maybe throw in a few family references. But nothing had prepared filmmaker Rohan Fernando for his journey to the country he left when he was 5.

Cecil’s Journey, the story of the 29-year-old Halifax resident’s passage to Sri Lanka, typifies the immigrant experience - of journeys between countries, cultures and even generations.
Fernando’s documentary screens this weekend at Filmi 2002, part of the third annual South Asian film festival being held as a part of Masala! Mehndi! Masti!, a three day South Asian cultural festival that starts tonight at Harbourfront.

Cecil’s Journey is typical of a growing phenomenon, as lower costs of filmmaking lead to many more independent movies being produced by the growing South Asian Diaspora. Their stories include documentation of the immigrant experience, the trials and tribulations of second-generation South Asians caught between two colliding cultures, or even playful shots at Bollywood.

This phenomena is one of the reasons Mohit Rajhans co-founded the first Filmi film festival in 2000.

“We like to call it the Sundance of Bollywood,” jokes 26-year-old Rajhans. “There’s a niche of independent South Asian cinema that’s influenced by both Bollywood and (North American) cinema. It needs to be explored not just for the South Asian market but also for a more mainstream market, so that they can realize just how diverse we are.”

Growing from a one-day event the first year to four days this year, Filmi 2002 has eight countries represented and several directors coming to Toronto.

“We have a Filmi perspective where we show the first and most current work of a filmmaker of international acclaim,” says Rajhans. “This year it’s Mira Nair. And we have something for everyone whether it’s a documentary by Lalita (Krishna) on battling hate crime or a German take on Bollywood. We also have films dealing with journeys, such as Bollywood Bound and Cecil’s Journey.”

Fernando’s journey - the name Cecil in the title of the documentary refers to the name he was given when people couldn’t pronounce Rohan - started off as a casual chat with producer Peter d’Entremont about going back to Sri Lanka for inspiration for his paintings.

“Peter thought it would be an interesting story to document,” says Fernando. “We got some interest going and managed to get some development funds. A producer asked me whether I was going to visit my family. I said no. She said I should. I said maybe, in between shoots.”

Growing up in Canada, Fernando didn’t have much perspective in the country of his birth. He’d had a need to suppress “that part of (his) identity” that made him different. His family never talked about the war in Sri Lanka because of the pain associated with the topic. The research for his documentary, into the recent violent history of his homeland, left him “blown away.”

Although he wanted to deal with these issues, it was the sensual shock that hit him when he arrived in Sri Lanka.

“It was literally like going back in time,” says Fernando. “The smells, the tastes, the colours, everything took me back to my childhood. Although I was trying to hold on to the documentary sense, I just wanted to belong to this place. But I was also frustrated because I was like an outsider there as well. I was being questioned as to why I had come back.”

The hour-long debut documentary eventually became a personal journey, informed by family stories, snippets about the war and picturesque montages. The labour of love - the production aspect came together only last year with assistance by the National Film Board - has allowed Fernando to answer some questions about his identity.

“This journey leaves me in a very different place,” he says. “It’s turned my life around and allowed me to accept a lot of things - my cultural heritage, the colour of my skin.”

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