The Muse

La muse

Wanda Nolan
2025 | 17 min 59 s
Documentary
English

Awards and Festivals

Best Atlantic Short Documentary AIFF - Atlantic International Film Festival, Halifax, Canada (2025)
Best Canadian Short - Audience Award Best Short - Best Atlantic Canadian FilmmakerLunenberg Doc Fest, Lunenburg, Canada (2025)
Official SelectionSt. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Canada (2025)

When 74-year-old Robert Tilley agreed to take photographer Ting Ting Chen on a road trip across Newfoundland, neither could have predicted the deep, cross-generational friendship that would blossom between them, nor how Robert’s role in Ting Ting’s art would challenge traditional ideas of the artist-muse relationship. This touching short film explores the concepts of aging, memory and identity while demonstrating the power of creative connection.

Robert Tilley, featured in the film, passed away in December 2025.

Logline

Take a road trip across Newfoundland with photographer Ting Ting Chen and her muse, Robert Tilley, as they explore memory, identity and the power of creative connections.

Photographs by Ting Ting Chen from the book Impressions of Newfoundland: The Art of Ting Ting Chen are used with the permission of Breakwater Books Ltd.

Credits

Special Thanks
Ting Ting Chen
Robert Tilley

Written and Directed by
Wanda Nolan

Edited by
Andrew MacCormack

Produced by
Liz Cowie
Rohan Fernando

Director of Photography
Stephanie Weber Biron

Sound Recordist
Matthew Thomson

Sound Designer
Catherine Van Der Donckt

Original Music
Sarah Harris

Musicians
Sarah Harris
Rhys Climenhage

1^st Assistant Camera
Josef Gerhards

Key Grip
Sean Doran

Additional Photography
Duncan De Young

Additional Sound
Joshua White
Mark Neary

Associate Producer
Kelly Davis

Line Producer
Geneviève Duguay

Production Administrators
Isabelle Limoges
Leslie Anne Poyntz

Production Manager
Lynn Andrews

Senior Production Coordinators
Kelly Davis
Sarah MacLeod

Additional Editing
Justin Simms

Foley
Stéphane Cadotte

Re-Recording Mixer
Jean Paul Vialard

Technical Coordinators
Daniel Lord
Chris MacIntosh

Production Supervisor
Roz Power

Colourist & Online Editor
Luca Di Gioacchino

Technical Support – Editing
Pierre Dupont
Patrick Trahan
Albert Kurian

Graphic Design and Motion Design
Alain Ostiguy

Archives

Fine art photography by Ting Ting Chen

Photographs by Ting Ting Chen from the book
Impressions of Newfoundland:
The Art of Ting Ting Chen
are used with the permission of Breakwater Books Ltd.

Robert Tilley Personal Archives
Ting Ting Chen Personal Archives
Sons of Thunder Enterprises Inc. via Getty Images
BBC Archive via Getty Images
AevanStock via Pond5
Steve Thornhill Stock Footage
Tom Cochrane Stock Footage
FotoNostrum Magazine

Thank You
The Tilley Family
Annette Clarke
Colin Clarke
Deanne Foley
Jan Peterknecht
Ned Pratt
Justin Simms
The Colonial Building
Ches’s Famous Fish & Chips
Memorial University – Signal Hill Campus

Senior Marketing Advisor
Laurianne Désormiers

Marketing Project Manager
Geneviève Bérard

Marketing Coordinator
Michelle Rozon

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Advisor
Peter Kallianiotis

Executive Producers
Eastern Documentary Unit
Nathalie Cloutier
Rohan Fernando

A National Film Board of Canada production

Media Relations

Jennifer Mair
NFB Publicist – Toronto
C.: 416-436-0105
j.mair@nfb.ca | @NFB_Jennifer

About the NFB

Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 7,000 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.