Filming Death: End-of-Life Documentary Cinema

Research output: Book/Report › Book › Scientific › peer-review

Original language	English

Publisher	Edinburgh University Press
Number of pages	264
ISBN (Print)	978-1-3995-2326-4
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-3995-2329-5, 978-1-3995-2328-8
Publication status	Published - 2024
Externally published	Yes
MoE publication type	C1 Scientific book

Fields of Science

6132 Visual arts and design
Film studies
Documentary cinema
End of life

Access to Document

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-filming-death.htmlLicence: CC BY-NC

Other files and links

End-of-life documentaries have proliferated in the 21st century as various organisations, institutions, journalists, independent filmmakers, and members of the public have wanted to give death and dying a face in the public discussion. Each documentary film that concerns individuals with a terminal illness, in hospice care, or desiring assisted death, redefines cultural expectations of what dying is and feels like. These films invite their viewers to witness 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. The book 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 death acceptance to raging to death.

Cite this

@book{4009d9a7b0e94619bededcfe29474747,

title = "Filming Death: End-of-Life Documentary Cinema",

keywords = "6132 Visual arts and design, Film studies, Documentary cinema, End of life",

author = "Outi Hakola",

year = "2024",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-3995-2326-4",

publisher = "Edinburgh University Press",

address = "United Kingdom",

}