SNOW a film by Rohan Fernando Opens in Toronto on February 24, 2012 at the Cumberland
Director Rohan Fernando’s first feature drama SNOW opens in Toronto on Friday, February 24th at the Cumberland. Inspired by his own history as an immigrant growing up in an all-white suburban area, it is a tale of loss and transformation in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka
SNOW beautifully captures the sense of dislocation and melancholy that follows tragedy – and hints at the rebirth and renewal that can grow out of it.
The film tells the story of Parvati, a 24-year old woman who has lost her entire family to the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. Relocated and dislocated, she now lives in Halifax with relatives she has never met before. Wooed by a young Tamil man in whom she has no interest, Parvati finds her home life increasingly uncomfortable.
Her work as a hotel chambermaid is also alien and isolating – until she meets an alluring hotel guest and begins a doomed love affair.
As Parvati’s new life begins to disintegrate, she takes to calling herself Kala – the name of her sister who vanished in the tsunami. And, ironically, she finds one of her strongest anchors in Emily, a homeless young musician with whom she travels to Cape Breton to see the ocean once again.
“Parvati is like a newborn when she wakes up in Canada, groping and stumbling, hoping to one days find herself” – director, Rohan Fernando
Shot entirely in Nova Scotia, with characters cast by director Fernando from the local community based on the life experiences of those playing them, SNOW is filmed in the style of the cinema verité documentaries of the 1960’s and 70’s.
Winner of Best Music at the 2011 Atlantic Film Festival
Director, Rohan Fernando
Born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1972, Rohan Fernando moved with his family first to Switzerland and then to Halifax, Canada. He drew on his own story for his documentary debut, Cecil’s Journey. The film was the first documentary to be selected as best short film at the Atlantic Film Festival. Other documentaries from Fernando include Trudeau’s Other Children (2005) and the feature documentary Blood and Water (2006) about a man coping with the loss of his entire family to the 2004 tsunami.
In 1999 He wrote and directed a television pilot called Shelter, based on his own graphic novel of the same name and between 2003 and 2005 he directed 17 episodes for the first three seasons of the highly rated TV series Past Lives.
Festival Screenings in 2011
Official Selection at Cinequest Film Festival, San Jose, California, 2011
Opening Film at ReelWorld Festival, Toronto, Ontario, 2011
River to River Film Festival, Florence Italy, 2011
Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2011
Running time: 87 min
To download images and press kit: www.snowthefilm.com
http://twitter.com/Snowthefilm
http://www.facebook.com/
