Canadian Bazaar
TORONTO: Strong Son, directed by Winnipeg-based Ian Bawa featured at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2026 is an emotional, extremely personal journey of grief and responsibility. The full-length film was developed from the short film presented at TIFF in 2020.
Ian Bawa decided to expand the short film to further explore his deeper personal emotions and catharsis through this full-length feature. Losing a parent is a very emotional moment in time and leaves people feeling more vulnerable. The film also explores the cultural aspect of the expectations that a son is responsible for taking care of his father and the pressure society puts on this theme. The immense stress it can put on yourself in this role is extremely high and can break you down emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Strong Son portrays a body builder, Harvey Harvinder Singh (Mandeep Sodhi) who has an aging father, Jagdeep Singh (Amrit Parbhakar) who needs him to take care of him so decides to do the right thing and move in with him. Harvey then has to increasingly spend more time taking care of his dad and less time in pursuit of maintaining his body and self-image. His father is proud of his son’s achievement and repeats the mantra “my son is strong”. It is engrained in him that his son is invincible so for Jagdeep to see Harvey break down and cry, is extremely upsetting. Jagdeep says that “men don’t cry”. Harvey realizes that after several panic attacks that the pressure of taking care of his dad is too much for him.
Harvey decides to take courage and approach his father and confront him with his own truth – that he is sorry he cannot take care of him anymore. Despite the guilt he feels a tremendous pressure lifted off his chest.
The theme is extremely emotional and fragile but is examined in the light of truth and authenticity. The inherent expectations of a father towards his son are portrayed throughout. “My son is strong I am old and he has come to look after me.” The South Asian cultural views that a son must be strong, resilient, never break down and cry or show emotions has been ingrained in male children. And sometimes the pressure gets too much and causes mental issues. But no one likes to talk about it. Here Bawa’s symbolism is reflected on the one side physical strength being shown through body building and wrestling, but the mental suffering and emotional agony is often hidden and not talked about. It is a universal theme and many in the audience can relate to this aspect of societal norms. Mental stress and pressure, break downs are considered as being weak. But Bawa deals with the subject matter head on in an open manner and depicts the vulnerable side. Audiences can relate to this theme and appreciate the honesty with which the story has been told. A must watch from this emerging Canadian film maker!
