Philip Gould was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in 2008, and in the summer of 2011 he was given three months to live. Filmed during the last two weeks of his life, this intimate portrait reveals Gould’s quest to find meaning in what he called ‘the death zone’. Gould believed that for the terminally ill and those close to them, there can be moments of joy, resolution and inspiration just as intense as those of fear, discomfort and sadness.
Philip Gould wrestles with the meaning, and ecstasy, of impending death
Director: Adrian Steirn
Producer: Nicola Howson

videoDeath
A moving argument for one woman’s right to choose when and how she dies
3 minutes

videoMeaning and the good life
Can negativism sweeten life’s small joys in the face of illness and death?
5 minutes

videoIllness and disease
A fly fisherman glimpses his own death in the river that gives him solace
5 minutes

videoDeath
An ageing philosopher returns to the essential question: ‘What is the point of it all?’
18 minutes

videoAgeing and death
Demystifying death – a palliative care specialist’s practical guide to life’s end
4 minutes

videoMeaning and the good life
A 70-year-old Danish mariner and yogi shares his plans for dying well
7 minutes

videoIllness and disease
As a young man’s sight fails him, friendship and night fishing help to keep his bearings
13 minutes

videoAgeing and death
When his elderly parents make a suicide pact, Doron struggles to accept their choice
19 minutes

videoAgeing and death
‘It’s not for everyone. It’s a ministry to me.’ A funeral director on the business of death
5 minutes