Filming Death

Documentary films about individuals with a terminal illness, in hospice care, or desiring assisted death, redefine cultural expectations of what dying is and feels like. These films invite their viewers to witness the intimate and emotional moments of dying people, including moments on their deathbed. Filming Death explores these documentaries as ethical spaces, asking the viewers to learn how to engage with end-of-life through the experiences of others and to find ways to alleviate potential death anxiety. It argues that the diversity of documentary films resists simplified moral divisions between good and bad death, and instead, embellishes diverse realities where dying takes many forms, ranging from acceptance to rage. Outi Hakola is a Lecturer in the Department of Health and Social Management at the University of Eastern Finland.