How an end-of-life doula found her vocation as a companion for the dying
Natalie Eskenazy is an end-of-life doula – a nonmedical professional who cares for the terminally ill as they approach death. In this short film from the Canadian director Robin McKenna, Eskenazy recounts how the death of her beloved sister Annie Eskenazy, who struggled with mental illness and sometimes went missing, led her to her work. Layering photos of the sisters with evocative illustrations and animations, McKenna’s film is a moving reflection on the meaning of being there for someone as they die.
videoLife stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes
videoAgeing and death
Memories of friends and neighbours light the streets of a seaside village in England
11 minutes
videoConsciousness and altered states
‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality
7 minutes
videoVirtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
videoCognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
videoLanguage and linguistics
Why Susan listens to recordings of herself speaking a language she no longer remembers
5 minutes
videoFamily life
One family’s harrowing escape from postwar Vietnam, told in a poignant metaphor
10 minutes
videoAnimals and humans
The wild tale of a young animal keeper, an angry tiger and a torn circle net
10 minutes
videoWar and peace
‘She is living on in many hearts’ – Otto Frank on the legacy of his daughter’s diary
12 minutes