Press
Documents:
Chichester's Choice Press Kit
Television Press
Print Press
The story of a father and daughter
I wish my father would get out of the streets…
It was fathers' day last Sunday on June 20th in Canada. In Brazil this day is commemorated on the second Sunday of August and was celebrated for the first time on August 14, 1953. The Publicist Sylvio Bhering brought this commemorative day from the US to Brazil and its date was altered to August for commercial reasons.
Whether in Brazil or in Canada this day is always a motive to pay tribute to the man whom we call father, daddy, my old man, my friend, or my brother. Nevertheless, it's a day we think of him. This was exactly the case of Simonee Chichester, a Canadian woman, daughter of a Brazilian woman and a Guyanese man. Simonee decided to pay a daring tribute to her father by running a marathon, running for four hours from downtown Toronto to Mississauga. It was a marathon to raise funds to finish a documentary about her father.
Her story, at first glance appears like thousands of other stories. Simonee lived with her father for only seven years; then Simonee's mother separated from her husband. He left to live in Brazil and the two of them, mother and daughter continued living in Canada. Simonee hadn't seen her father since, until now.
Simonee's story comes as a burden with the most intense human drama. In 2003, after a twenty-three year separation, she established contact with the Canadian Consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was given the most devastated information pertaining to her father; that he was a beggar, and that for many years he had been drifting through the streets of Osasco, Brazil. Also that he was an alcoholic and had been institutionalized as homeless in a government hospital, where he was being treated for tuberculoses.
As a daughter she wanted many answers. She wanted to know why he abandoned her. She needed to know more about him; and therefore, getting to know herself as well. So as an actress and filmmaker, she decided to search for her father, and to document the entire story from the beginning in a film. She applied and received financial resources from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council and the National Film Board of Canada. She planned everything and first flew to Georgetown Guyana, her father's birthplace, and then to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The full story about this research is in the documentary, Chichester ( Simonee's and her father's sir-name ). The feature film is now in the post-production phase, but because all of the funds have run out, Simonee tries to raise money through events such as the fathers' day marathon. With this run, she was able to gather close to three thousand dollars. However, the production is still lacking approximately twenty thousand dollars for full completion.
The film will be launched in Canada and Brazil, and it's scheduled to be finished in six to eight months, depending funding.
"I believe that fathers' day is not only a day to praise fathers, but the act of being a father. Being a father is not only about having kids, but also about being present in their lives. My father was never present in my life. That's why I needed to tell this story", Simonee said.
At the present time, she prefers not to reveal too much about the documentary, and her findings during her trip. According to her, everything is going to be told in the film. However, she did talk a little about her meeting with her father. She said that until a minute prior to meeting him she felt in control of the situation, but after embracing her father and being embraced by him, many of the answers she looked for ceased to be as important.
Written by: Marinalva T. Soares for Brasil Newss
Translated by: Neusa Goss
Chichester