Info
Winner of the Best Atlantic Filmmaker Award, click here to see award winners.
VIEWING REGION: CANADA & USA
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Bernie Langille never met his grandfather, a corporal in the military who died 15 years before Bernie was born. However, Bernie grew up hearing from family members about the bizarre circumstances of his namesake’s death – along with the painful conviction held by the Langilles that a military cover-up is to blame for their loved one’s demise and is also keeping them from attaining justice. Determined to see if he can bring healing to his family before the fourth generation of Langilles is born, Bernie sets out on an existential investigation to find answers as to what happened on that snowy night in 1968. He begins by visiting Bernie Sr.’s grave. An unexpected excavation leads to the discovery of a series of numbers etched on the gravestone, which turn out to be Bernie Sr.’s SIN number. Believing his late grandmother must have put the numbers there for future family to unearth the truth, Bernie uses the SIN number to follow a paper trail that leads him to medical experts, former friends and neighbours, dueling family perspectives and a difficult secret that exposes the troublesome legacy of a complicated man.
2022 | Canada | 78 mins
Filmmakers
Jackie Torrens, Director
Jackie Torrens is a director and documentary filmmaker known for her strong visual style, empathetic portrayal of her subjects, and a keen appreciation for the offbeat. She is also an award-winning writer and actor for film, TV and theatre. With producer Jessica Brown, Torrens is one half of the female-owned Halifax-based production company Peep Media. Since 2012 they have completed 6 films including: My Week On Welfare (CBC, Documentary Channel, Screen Nova Scotia nominee for Best Documentary), Small Town Show Biz (CBC, Documentary Channel, Yorkton nominee Best Arts and Culture Documentary), Edge of East (CBC, Documentary Channel; SNS nominee Best Documentary), Bernie Langille Wants To Know Who Killed Bernie Langille (Bravofactual, selected by Telefilm to represent Canada at the Clermont International Film Festival, winner of Screen Nova Scotia’s Best Short Film and winner of Women in Television and Film Atlantic’s Best Director) and the upcoming feature Bernie Langille Wants To Know What Happened To Bernie Langille (Documentary Channel). Torrens has also directed two documentaries for Telltale Productions, Free Reins (CBC POV Docs, Yorkton nominee Best POV Doc) and the feature documentary Radical Age (Vision). She has done numerous radio documentaries for CBC, including Teen Moms, The Collector, What’s Haunting You?, The Poet Laureate of Youth Now (Atlantic Journalism winner for Best Feature Writing) and Camp Mini Ha Ha (CBC Award of Excellence).