Full Circle is a feature documentary that will tell the story of how a young cameraman from Canada risked his life in pre-Revolutionary Cuba to interview Fidel Castro, and in the process launched his own career as one of the top war cameramen in the world.

It will tell the story of Erik Durschmied, who in the fall of 1958 journeyed to Castro’s guerilla headquarters in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, just before the triumph of the Revolution. He spent two weeks with the rebels filming scenes of camp life, and an intriguing interview with Fidel about his revolutionary struggle against the dictator Batista. Batista was soon overthrown, and Durschmied brought Castro’s message to the world. The career of the daring young cameraman took off, as he was offered new assignments to hot spots around the world.

Durschmied spent much of the '60s as a war cameraman in Vietnam for the BBC and CBS.  Newsweek magazine named him Cameraman-Reporter of the Decade, as someone "who has transformed the medium he works in". In the '70s he covered the Yom Kippur War in Israel, the last days of white rule in Rhodesia, and was the first to film visual proof of the killing fields of Cambodia. In the '80s he filmed the war in Lebanon, the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the Gulf War between Iran and Iraq. He has been witness to many of the major events of our times, but it all started on that mountaintop in Cuba.

Full Circle will tell the story of Erik Durschmied's extraordinary career, as he returns to Cuba on the 50th Anniversary of the Revolution. He will provide a fascinating personal account of his original experiences in pre-revolutionary Cuba: 1950s Havana where he first arrived by ferry from Florida, his drive up the island, his long trek into the mountains, life with the rebels, and of course his meetings with Castro himself.

As Erik's Cuban journey unfolds, he will also be telling the story of his subsequent work as a war cameraman, reflecting on the meaning and significance of his career as he returns to where it all began. It will be a parallel personal journey for Durschmied, visualized by his own archival footage. Full Circle will be a multi-layered journey in time and memory as we blend thoughts and images that reflect on the nature of his work, a lifetime in the trenches, and a world in conflict.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T.S. Eliot

In production with TVOntario, Knowledge Network, SCN, YLE Finland, and ORF Austria, with the financial participation of the Canadian Television Fund and the Rogers Documentary Fund. For release in Fall 2009.