When Kim Acquaviva’s wife Kathy was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer, the couple decided to share the day-to-day realities of her slide toward death that doctors can’t always provide.
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How do you learn to talk about death when you are a future doctor? Mathilde and Fabian will be entering a residency next year. I'm looking at the gestural dialogue and language strategies that take place during the delicate moment of a "announcement" consultation. I am trying to understand how words, although they do not directly cure the disease, sometimes help to remove the fear it engenders.
The Bridge is a controversial documentary that shows people jumping to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - the world's most popular suicide destination. Interviews with the victims' loved ones describe their lives and mental health.
What question has plagued mankind more than the mystery—and terror—of death? This forbidden pursuit has driven Dr. Frances B. Gröss to the brink of madness, but in his obsession, he has amassed a uniquely comprehensive collection of films that depict life in its final, grueling moments. From the savagery of cold-blooded murder to the perverse realities of war, tragic accidents, and the everyday lives of those who collect, dissect, and bury the dead, this descent into morbidity lays bare a truth that all of us will one day face.
Carlin returns to the stage in his 13th live comedy stand-up special, performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City for HBO®. His spot-on observations on the deterioration of human behavior include Americans’ obsession with their two favorite addictions - shopping and eating; his creative idea for The All-Suicide Channel, a new reality TV network; and the glorious rebirth of the planet to its original pristine condition - once the fires and floods destroy life as we know it.
In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.
Details fade from the mind, just like memories. Clarity in memory becomes blurred, and our bodies are the marked spaces once inhabited by others. When nothingness becomes memory, what do we remember? Reflecting on the past, present, and future, different bodies will connect, sharing their feelings and emotions through touch. Skin, with its textures and uniqueness, becomes the link to the absent other, and in the need for details, we seek to remember what has been forgotten.
Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.
The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.
Irish director Donagh Coleman explores the extraordinary phenomenon of Tukdam, whereby some Tibetan Buddhist practitioners are able to forestall physical decay at the point of clinical death for days, even weeks, by entering a deep meditative state. Supported by His Holiness the Dalai Lama a group of leading scientists conduct groundbreaking research into the phenomenon, which challenges Western medical understanding of the line between life and death.
How well do we really know our parents? And their youth? Do we simply have a vague idea of who they are, and were, before they had us? Cécile embark on a quest to discover truths about her mother and her youth, truths that can't be found elsewhere, than right where it all happened. Southern France. The project is a self-inventory, and an attempt to understand the complexity of parenthood and the dynamics between mother and daughter.
Marina Carrère d'Encausse lifts the veil on the intimate questions that preoccupy her as well as society at large: those related to the end of life. The doctor-journalist introduces Antoine, her partner, who is suffering from Charcot's disease, an incurable illness, and who wishes to choose how he ends his life. Is the current law in France sufficient? Should it simply be better enforced, allowing better access to palliative care? Should assisted suicide and euthanasia be legalized? Marina meets with patients concerned about the end of life, caregivers, and politicians in France, as well as in Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal.
A series of interviews are conducted concerning people's beliefs towards the possibility of an afterlife. The interviews are filmed against a set of strange backdrops, and are intercut with clips from classic films and a variety of stock footage.
Alzheimer's: Every Minute Counts is an urgent wake-up call about the national threat posed by Alzheimer's disease. Many know the unique tragedy of this disease, but few know that Alzheimer's is one of the most critical public health crises facing America. Because of the growing number of aging baby boomers, and the fact that the onset of Alzheimer's is primarily age-related, the number of Alzheimer's case is predicted to skyrocket in the United States. This will not only be a profound human tragedy, but an overwhelming economic one as well. Due to the length of time people live with the illness and need care, it's the most expensive medical condition in the U.S. Future costs for Alzheimer's threaten to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and the life savings of millions of Americans.
Filmmaker Jon Alpert turns the camera on his own family in this intimate portrait of his aging father. As illness and declining vitality reshape his life, the film captures a deeply personal struggle with dignity, humor, and the bonds that hold a family together.
With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
Since discovering cancer, Omar has lived with pain, the imminence of death, uncertainty about the future and the suffering of his family. The documentary is a punch in the stomach, a plea for help and a breath of hope for those who battle the disease.
For most of us a funeral is traditionally a modest, somber affair, but there are some families who are prepared to go above and beyond to ensure their loved ones go out in style. Warm, funny and surprising, this film explores some of the UKs most extraordinary final goodbyes.
After the untimely death of his 35-year old brother, an artist explores the questions that surfaced from grief by painting 365 paintings and to spur conversation in culture.
Dying is a process and in a person's final hours and days, Nickie and her Threshold Choir are there to accompany people on their way and bring comfort. Through specially composed songs, akin to lullabies, the choir cultivates an environment of love and safety around those on their deathbed. For the volunteer choir members, it is also an opportunity to channel their own experiences of grief and together open up conversations about death. With thanks to onscreen contributor, Lindsey, who died since the making of this film.
Upon suddenly learning of her imminent death, Jacqueline von Kaenel begins to search for the key to her life. Unsparingly, she looks back and discovers how everything is connected; her youth in Franco’s Spain with her mother’s feudal past in eastern Prussia, her desire for music with the one for a dominant and powerful husband. In her ambition to be a perfect mother, she recognizes her fight for identity. But all of a sudden experiences from her childhood in a seemingly happy family crop up turning everything upside down.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.
Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.
Filmed and edited in intimate vérité style, this movie follows visionary medical practitioners who are working on the cutting edge of life and death and are dedicated to changing our thinking about both.
From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.
With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon's perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.
Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.
Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.
One Life captures unprecedented and beautiful sequences of animal behaviour guaranteed to bring you closer to nature than ever before, as well as a second disc packed full of never before seen extras including an exclusive making of featurette narrated by Daniel Craig.
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.