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

videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes

videoLove and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes

videoLife stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes

videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes

videoConsciousness and altered states
What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?
12 minutes

videoAgeing and death
Memories of friends and neighbours light the streets of a seaside village in England
11 minutes

videoFamily life
A mother and child bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait
11 minutes

videoChildhood and adolescence
‘Do worms cry?’ – and other questions collected from the mind of a curious child
4 minutes

videoIllness and disease
Humanity eradicated smallpox 45 years ago. It’s a story worth remembering
25 minutes