Helliwell :: Films

Praise for Glimpses of Heaven:

"Speaks powerfully of the transformational processes in the forging of character and of the resilience of the human spirit." - Larry Walker, Professor, Developmental Psychology, University of British Columbia

"Demonstrates that the human spirit can win out over oppression and transform darkness into light." - David Freeman, Professor Emeritus, Social Work, University of British Columbia

"An unsparing and poetic meditation on grief, creation, and survival - fierce and original enough to challenge, invigorate and change the way we think about trauma and the human spirit." - Rebecca Godfrey, novelist and non-fiction writer, author of Torn Skirt and Under the Bridge

"Will strengthen your hope in the survivability of the decent." - George Szanto, Professor Emeritus, Communications, McGill University

GLIMPSES OF HEAVEN

IMDB

GLIMPSES OF HEAVEN is a meditation into the autobiographical memories of three distinguished Canadian artists (George Littlechild, painter; Peter Gary, composer; and Wayne Ngan, potter). The film explores the process of learning to take hold of moments of joy and to forge lives of creativity, against overwhelming memories of childhood trauma.

Wins: "Best Director" 2007 Las Vegas International Film Festival; "Honorable Mention" 2008 Roving Eye component of the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

TSANGPO SUMMER

(working title, in post-production)

TSANGPO SUMMER: Over icy winters in the Canadian North Dr. Isaac Sobol works as Nunavut's Chief Medical Officer. For the past 10 summers Isaac has led a harrowing medical mission into a remote village in the Kham region of Eastern Tibet; a difficult and dangerous journey crossing over physical and cultural barriers to exchange interpersonal illumination. Tsangpo Summer is a glimpse into Chinese public health and an autobiographical account of a life of healing.

ABRAHAM'S GERMAN CHILDREN

(working title, in production)

ABRAHAM'S GERMAN CHILDREN is a documentary film focusing on Germans who have become Jewish through conversion. The stories raise issues about Jewish identity, conversion, autobiography and remembering. The film's interviews are interwoven with discussions by leading rabbis and scholars on the complex issues faced by Germans who embrace Judaism in the post-Holocaust world.