Standing Ovation for Quilt Documentary

Esther Bryan

Excitement and nervousness filled the air as visitors, wondering what to expect, grabbed bags of popcorn and filed into the theatre at NAV Centre on the evening of April 18th. All had gathered to view the first screening of the long-awaited documentary. Keyhart Productions’s Anna Chiappa and her crew had spent 16 months planning the story, travelling to shoot segments on location, editing, writing, spending hundreds of hours to craft the 48-minute film. Produced in beautiful high definition colour, the work chronicles the amazing story of making the Quilt.

The lights went down and everyone held their breath. The film started and soon the tensions faded away as other emotions began to surface– wonder as the incredible efforts of the volunteers emerged, spontaneous applause as Pierina Costanza sang “Una Cassetta di Canada”, tears as Tatiana Jouikova shared how her family came to Canada to save the life of her daughter, shock as Marta Viscarra shared her story of torture in El Salvador. The time flew by and soon the credits were rolling. As the lights came on, the audience spontaneously rose to their feet in a standing ovation. The newest artwork for Quilt of Belonging was launched and on its way, beginning a journey of its own to share the Quilt’s message, A Place for All.