Private Project

My Son Went Quiet

After the death of his wife, a South Asian father and his son begin seeing a shadow around the walls of their home, who the son believes to be his mother.

  • Ian Singh Bawa
    Director
  • Ian Singh Bawa
    Writer
  • Ian Singh Bawa
    Producer
  • Markus Henkel
    Producer
  • Harkaran Jhinger
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Jay Vaidyanathan
    Key Cast
    "Son"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 2024 Slamdance Film Festival
    Park City
    United States
    January 19, 2024
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Ian Singh Bawa

In 2007, Ian Bawa, a born and raised Winnipegger, switched paths in becoming a lawyer to pursue a career in filmmaking. As a graduate of the University of Winnipeg Film program, Ian’s bachelor film ‘Offline’ (a co-production between University of Winnipeg and multiple German Art Universities) was met with great success and toured around the world, winning at festivals such as Yorkton Film Festival and Fargo Film Festival.

Ian’s film career started out interning with FilmTraining Manitoba in the lighting department and working in every department a set (both big and small) can offer from there. This allowed Ian to learn, appreciate, and understand every aspect of filmmaking and become a Swiss army knife of skills and knowledge when producing on and off set.

Since then, Ian has produced, directed, and worked on a number of features, short films, documentaries, music videos, and a variety of other projects. His past work has won him many accolades and recognition locally and around the world, and has been written about in publications such as Ain't it Cool News, The AV Club, and was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick for his film ‘The Champ’.

His film, ‘Imitations’, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival with great acclaim, and toured globally from there, playing at festivals such as Vancouver International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and many others. Ian’s film, ‘Tapeworm’, premiered recently at this year’s 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival and 2020 SlamDance Film Festival.

His latest film ‘Strong Son’ premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival, 2021 Aspen Shortsfest, and the 2021 Hollywood Shorts Fest. Ian was also selected to be part of the 2021 TIFF Filmmakers Lab and 2021 ReelWorld E20 Lab. Strong Son is currently in development to be made into a feature film.

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Director Statement

On May 28th, 2007, I watched my mom die a slow and very painful death. The breast cancer she was fighting exploded throughout her body, and four days later she died with my father and I next to her. When my father first told me my mother only had a few days left to live, he told me I was not allowed for her to see me cry. He said if she saw me upset, it would make her upset and she would die faster. I held in a lot of my emotions from then on. I became muted and silent whenever I felt the need to cry in front of my parents, and would hide in my room and suffer severe panic attacks instead.

After my mom died, things didn’t change in the way I handled my emotions. My father and I felt the void between us, and the trauma we both experienced was too much for either of us to share. We would talk, but it was about mundane things. I could tell my dad was worried about me. He knew I would hide in my room to have panic attacks, or what he liked to call ‘breathing problems’. He made me go to multiple doctors. I was put on pills and was forced to see my mother’s former breast cancer counsellor to help me deal with the grief I was feeling.

It has taken many years since my mother’s passing, but eventually I was able to find a stable balance in my life in the ways I express emotions.

But then something changed.

On October 21st, 2020, I found my dad dead in his room. The emotional strength I had fought to build since my mother’s passing crumbled. I shut down. I felt alone, and I still feel alone, but am still here and am learning how to adjust to what is now my new orphaned life.

My Son Went Quiet is a film about grief, depression, letting go, and how men (specifically Sikh males), deal with their emotions, and how it can induce internal suffering if not expressed. This is a therapeutic film, not only for me but also for anyone who has ever experienced traumatic loss or grief, and the inability to understand or comprehend what they are going through. Grief is a powerful emotion and my goal is to use what I have gone through and am still going through with this film.