ArtsHaitian-Canadian director, Fitch Jean’s coming-of-age feature, It Comes in Waves, cleaned up at the Reelworld Film FestivalHaitian-Canadian director, Fitch Jean’s coming-of-age feature cleaned up at the Reelworld Film FestivalAajah Sauter · CBC News · Posted: Nov 05, 2025 6:09 PM EST | Last Updated: November 5Listen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesNendia Lewars (Zera) and Adrian Walters (Akai) star in It Comes in Waves, directed by Fitch Jean (Zargara Productions)As a kid, Haitian Canadian director Fitch Jean really loved two things: the movies and writing. He watched The Lion King on VHS so many times he wore the tape out — and not because of the talking lions, but because of the way the score made him feel. At age 13, he went above and beyond for a French class assignment and wrote a full-fledged manuscript for a fantasy novel. He didn’t know it then, but those twin loves would set him on a path toward a career in film. He recently showed his first feature film, It Comes in Waves, at the Reelworld Film Festival, where it took five awards, including outstanding feature film, outstanding feature actor and outstanding feature writer. Jean says the awards ceremony felt like a dream. “It felt surreal. It felt like it didn’t make any sense.”That wasn’t the only place where the film gained industry level recognition. Prior to Reelworld, the film claimed the Audience Choice Award at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Ala., and was well received at its Canadian premiere at Cinéfest Sudbury. It also screened at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, and will screen in Jean’s hometown, at the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival, later this week. Adrian Walters (Akai) stars in It Comes in Waves, directed by Fitch Jean (Zargara Productions)Set within the Rwandan diaspora in Canada, It Comes in Waves is a coming-of-age drama about a boy named Akai (played by Adrian Walters), who is trying to build a new life with his family in Ottawa while navigating the intergenerational trauma of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.Initially, Jean was looking to direct a film that would tackle the issues of trauma and mental health among Black men. He says that growing up in a Haitian household didn’t encourage conversation about mental health — only prayer and stoicism. “I’ve seen how that silence shapes men, especially Black men, who are taught to suppress everything,” he says. “With It Comes in Waves, I wanted to show what that looks like beneath the surface, the quiet moments, the isolation and the masks we wear.” He started by working with a friend who was studying clinical psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit to help flesh out his ideas. “He was doing his PhD there and he was helping me with research and sending me some material that I could take to learn more about the topic,” says Jean. “I wanted to figure out what the background of my characters would be and what that story would be.”Growing up in a city like Ottawa, with a robust Rwandan community, Jean was able to connect with people who remembered the country both before and at the time of the genocide. “I remember one time, my family had dinner with a family from Rwanda, and the father of the family, late in the evening, was talking to us about his experience,” says Jean. “He got very emotional, and I think that really stuck with me, and I decided to dive deeper into that topic to really understand it more and make it a prominent part of the story.”Moving from Haiti to Canada at the age of five shaped the way the director views identity and belonging. “You grow up feeling in-between, trying to fit into a place that doesn’t always see you, while holding onto where you come from,” he says. “In It Comes in Waves, you feel that in Akai’s silence, how he internalizes pain instead of expressing it… It’s that immigrant instinct to survive by keeping things in, and it became the emotional DNA of the story.”Nendia Lewars (Zera) stars in It Comes in Waves, directed by Fitch Jean (Zargara Productions)The making of this feature wasn’t without hiccups. The cast and crew had just two weeks to film, and after using the entirety of the budget, Jean took on the job of editing the project while attempting to raise more money to finish the film. “I’ve done short films in the past, some web series and I’ve done a feature doc, but nothing is comparable to making a feature film,” says Jean. “We were building the plane as we were flying.” The experience sharpened his ability to make tough decisions under pressure. “Sometimes, you have to make compromises because you’re trying to get the movie done,” he says. “I realized that I’m not going to reach perfection — and done is better than perfect.”The 28-year-old hasn’t hid from creating works that deal with heavy subject matter. His short, More Than Hair, which screened at Reelword in 2022, explores the cultural significance of Black hair through the eyes of a young boy on a trip to the barbershop, while Jean’s As I Lay Still addresses the topic of grief and depression from the perspective of a Black war veteran. Haitian-Canadian director and writer Fitch Jean (Kerbens Boisette)With It Comes in Waves, Jean hopes the film will generate discourse about intergenerational trauma — and not just within Rwandan communities. “The story of Rwanda is unique, but the effects of trauma are universal,” he says. Ultimately, that is why he does what he does. In Jean’s eyes, a good story can have a massive impact. “Storytelling is probably the most powerful form of communication and persuasion that we have,” he says. “When we think about all world history and religion, at the core, they are stories. [Look at] how powerful they’ve been to entertain, but also radicalize — and also create hope.”It Comes in Waves plays as part of the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival at the ByTowne Cinema (325 Rideau St.) in Ottawa on Nov. 6.ABOUT THE AUTHORAajah Sauter is a Web Writer for CBC Arts. An Edmontonian based in Toronto, Aajah holds a bachelors degree in Communications from MacEwan University. You can reach her at aajah.sauter@cbc.ca
‘It feels like a dream’: Ottawa filmmaker on winning awards with his debut feature
