cineSOURCE magazine

Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features (click on broll or dschwartz for all his posts)

A Doc About Death
Many Suns ago – maybe 8 or 9 – I had the pleasure of meeting a beautiful young woman by the name of Michelle Peticolas. She informed me that she’s working on a project about death. Immediately I thought of the seventies, and of a few authors, Stephen Levine, Ram Das, and an inspiration for Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz”, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. I thought, as I still do, ‘death’… about as taboo a topic you cannot hear addressed in mainstream media or pop culture – except for the above-mentioned “All That Jazz”. Wonder what she’s going to do?

Dr. Peticolas did it. She produced and directed a 26 minute documentary in our dear San Francisco Bay Area, featuring people speaking frankly as they, to put it simply, are facing their imminent death. I’m in total admiration and respect for Peticolas’ intentions and accomplishments. With camera work by local filmmaker Bob Mohr, Peticolas firmly but gently knocks on the door of our defensiveness to the topics of death and dying. I especially appreciate her decision to put herself in the mix as she describes, with utter vulnerability, her responses to her parents’ passing.

“Facing Death” is the first in a planned series called “Secrets of Life and Death”. The second work, “Caring for Dying” has been released, and there are at least two more in the works. See http://www.secretsoflifeanddeath.com. (If you wish to order for home use only, simply email Michelle via the above URL, and she’ll send you a link for PayPal purchase.)

Aug 10, 2009 by D. Schwartz