Can negativism sweeten life’s small joys in the face of illness and death?
‘I’m doomed, but we all are.’
A self-proclaimed ‘negativist’ with a cynical outlook, Edward Buchanan has been defying the odds since he outlived doctors’ predictions by eight years following a hepatitis C diagnosis. Ed’s latest diagnosis, however, seems much less escapable: cancer has left him with perhaps just weeks to live. An intimate and moving portrait of the eccentric 57-year-old California musician, Perpetual Ed reveals a precarious combination of cantankerous negativism and a sensitive, humour-laced humanity.
Director: Max Good
video
Love and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes
video
Life stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes
video
Medicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
video
Consciousness and altered states
What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?
12 minutes
video
Ageing and death
Memories of friends and neighbours light the streets of a seaside village in England
11 minutes
video
Family life
A mother and child bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait
11 minutes
video
Childhood and adolescence
‘Do worms cry?’ – and other questions collected from the mind of a curious child
4 minutes
video
Illness and disease
Humanity eradicated smallpox 45 years ago. It’s a story worth remembering
25 minutes
video
Personality
A ‘little thief’ turned career criminal recounts a life on the wrong side of the law
5 minutes