Aftermath: The Legacy of Suicide - DVD
Catalogue Number: NFB520936
Producer: National Film Board Of Canada
Producers: Jacques Ménard, Yves Bisaillon
Directors: Lisa Fitzgibbons
Producing Agencies: National Film Board of Canada (Montreal), Office national du film du Canada (Montreal)
Subject: Documentary, Early Childhood Education, Family Studies/Home Economics, Health and Medicine, Media and Communications, Psychology
Language: English
Grade Level: 6 - 8, 9 - 12, Post Secondary
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2001
Running Time: 50:05
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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.