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Rohan Fernando (59)
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Blood and WaterRohan Fernando 2007 1 h 17 minWhen the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything."
A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando.
A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Anton and his wife, Beulah, were visiting her when the tsunami hit.
Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.
To honour Orlantha's work, Anton is building a music centre and hosting a fundraising concert. Eccentric characters and oddball events immediately take centre stage. Exiled Iranian country singer Ann Claire is focused on media attention as much as on the concert. Shondale, an energetic African American computer analyst, is so moved by Orlantha's story that she drops everything to become the concert's chief organizer. The concert itself loses money, although - in a final irony - some of the underprivileged children it is designed to serve come from among the richest families in the country.
Meanwhile, Anton tours his old neighbourhood, spends time with his daughter's closest friends and seeks out advice from the archbishop of Sri Lanka. ("That's life!" the archbishop says, when Anton describes his loss.)
All this against the backdrop of Sri Lanka - a country coming apart as the decades-old civil war between Tamil Tigers and the government heats up.
Ultimately, Blood and Water is a film about the coming to terms with loss. As Anton Ambrose seeks meaning in tragedy, he must re-evaluate all he has taken for granted. In so doing, he comes to understand his daughter better than he ever did when she was alive. -
NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 13 - CommandRohan Fernando 2015 5 minChris Hadfield describes arriving at the ISS and his general activities on board the Space Station, including becoming the first Canadian Commander of the ISS.
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Trudeau's Other ChildrenRohan Fernando 2005 1 h 7 minMusicians Vineet Vyas, Mei Han and Asif Illyas are part of one of the greatest social experiments the world has seen: multiculturalism. Nearly 40 years ago, under the eye of visionary prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada began turning itself into the world's first truly multicultural state--a place where people from all nations could be at home. But the genesis for Trudeau's idea came decades earlier, when he was a young man travelling through the chaos of the post-war Middle East and Asia.
Vineet Vyas is a renowned tabla player who splits his time between Canada and India. An accomplished traditional musician, zheng player Mei Han is also an audacious innovator and improviser. And Asif Illyas--born in Sri Lanka, raised in England, and living in Halifax--is frontman for boundary-breaking contemporary pop band Mir.
In Trudeau's Other Children, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando places the stories of Mei, Vineet and Asif in juxtaposition with archival footage and excerpts from Trudeau's journals. The result offers unique insights into the origins and practice of Canada's multicultural policy--and a film as powerful, layered and subtle as the best of their music. -
NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 1 - Chapter 1 - What Does It Take?Rohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 5 minDescribes the kind of candidates that NASA and CSA are looking for.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 2 - Chapter 2 - Exercising in SpaceRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 6 minDescribes the equipment and techniques used by astronauts to exercise in space.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 4 - CanadianRohan Fernando 2015 1 minInterview with Chris Hadfield in which he speaks about how travels abroad can provide valuable insight to life at home.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 5 - DoubtsRohan Fernando 2015 4 minChris describes how he finally decided to move forward on becoming an astronaut and how the Challenger disaster nearly ended his life long dream.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 7 - ContenderRohan Fernando 2015 2 minInterview with Chris Hadfield in which he speaks about how dreams remain just dreams if you don't seize your opportunities.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 11 - ScarsRohan Fernando 2015 4 minChris describes how a small medical issue nearly destroyed his opportunity to go to space for the third time.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 1 - DreamerRohan Fernando 2015 2 minInterview with Chris Hadfield showing what you can accomplish when you pursue your dreams.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 6 - Test PilotRohan Fernando 2015 2 minInterview with Chris Hadfield in which he speaks about how, In pursuit of a dream, you must be prepared for the many challenges that await.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 8 - AlliesRohan Fernando 2015 3 minInterview with Chris Hadfield in which he describes how he, a former Canadian cold war fighter pilot, helped join together the American and Russian space programs.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 10 - ColumbiaRohan Fernando 2015 4 minChris describes what it was like to hear the news of the Columbia disaster and how he and his colleagues confronted this terrible event.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 12 - LaunchRohan Fernando 2015 5 minChris Hadfield describes Expedition 34/35 launch to space in a Soyuz rocket.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 15 - ReturnRohan Fernando 2015 5 minChris Hadfield describes how he and his crew departed the ISS and returned to Earth in a Soyuz.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 17 - The Next AdventureRohan Fernando 2015 3 minChris Hadfield discusses his plans as a retired astronaut and what lies in store for this new stage in his life.
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Elisha and the Cacao TreesRohan Fernando 2010 17 minThis charming short documentary takes us on a trip to Belize, where we meet 13-year-old Elisha, the daughter of a cacao farmer. What links a village in Belize and millions of North American kids? Chocolate! We learn about Elisha's daily life and her dreams as she and her father show how cacao is grown, harvested and turned into chocolate.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 4 - Chapter 1 - Mental Health for AstronautsRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 6 minHow astronauts train for the mental and psychological challenges of working and living in Space.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 3 - Chapter 1 - The SuitRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 5 minDescribes the characteristics of the Space Suit and how to put it on.
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The Chocolate Farmer (Short Version)Rohan Fernando 2010 52 minThis full-length documentary takes us to an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, where cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. The film captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing around them. A lament for cultures lost, The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.
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The Chocolate FarmerRohan Fernando 2010 1 h 11 minThis full-length documentary takes us to an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, where cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. The film captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing around them. A lament for cultures lost, The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 1 - IntroductionRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 46 sHost Jeremie Saunders introduces us to Health for Astronauts (Lesson 1).
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 3 - Chapter 2 - TrainingRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 3 minDescribes how astronauts train in the Space Suit here on Earth.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 4 - Chapter 2 - Leadership and TeamworkRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 5 minHow astronauts learn to be good leaders as well as followers.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 2 - Chapter 1 - Physical PreparationRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 5 minDescribes how astronauts prepare their bodies to be able to work in space.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 14 - SacrificeRohan Fernando 2015 5 minChris Hadfield describes how he and his crew repaired an ammonia leak during their mission on the ISS.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 3 - CadetRohan Fernando 2015 1 minInterview with Chris Hadfield in which he speaks about how self-discipline can help you become whatever you want to be.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 5 - Chapter 4 - Returning to GravityRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 4 minThe impact of gravity on the astronaut’s body upon return to Earth.
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NFB Space School - Health - Lesson 5 - Chapter 5 - Studying the Effects of MicrogravityRohan Fernando & Eva Madden 2015 4 minHow studying the impacts of microgravity on astronauts can benefit humanity.
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NFB Space School: The Hadfield Journey - Chapter 16 - StorytellerRohan Fernando 2015 3 minChris Hadfield discusses the many accomplishments during his career as an astronaut and how he hopes to share his experiences in the future.
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Becoming LabradorRohan Fernando , Tamara Segura , … 2018 1 h 10 minIn the stark Labrador interior, a growing number of Filipino workers have recently landed in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, travelling halfway around the world for jobs they hope will offer their families new opportunities and a better life. Becoming Labrador follows a handful of those women and men as they make a place for themselves in Labrador while dealing with the unexpected costs of living far from their family.
