A PASSAGE TO OTTAWA
(2001, color, 90 minutes)
DATE: Saturday, Novembers. TIME: 9pin

SYNOPSIS: Omi, a young East Indian boy arrives in Canada to live with his uncle due to his mother's illness back home. He has no father, and unaware that his mother is likely to die, Omi believes that he is on a mission to find a hero, to take back to India to save her. He connects emotionally with Roland, the captain of a local tour boat who, in turn, begins a romance with Safia, Omi's feisty teenage cousin who's assigned to take care of him.

DIRECTOR: Indian by birth, Gaurav Seth graduated from the Russian Federation Film Institute of Cinematography in 1993. He has directed and served as a cinematographer for numerous short films, corporate videos and documentaries in Russia, India and the United States. This is his first feature-length film.

WRITER: With an East Indian father and an American mother, Jameel Khaja's background was grist for his mill when he wrote "A Passage to Ottawa". The screenplay was part of his thesis in completing his Masters degree in Film at Columbia University.