No such work can be credited to one person alone, and this documentary is no exception. There are many people who deserve to be recognized for their hard work in this creative project. I would like to begin by saying thank you to Ingrid Berzins Leuzy (http://www.ingridberzinsleuzy.com/) the Executive Producer, who planted the seed in 2008 over dinner one evening, that a documentary is something I should seriously consider doing. Ingrid ensured we made it to the finish line, and picked up all the loose pieces along the way. Thank you to Nigel Akam, Director of Photography (http://www.njacam.com/) - the talented man behind the camera, who brought the stories to life with the exquisite images he shot. Thank you to Diane Akam (http://www.njacam.com/), the Editor, who worked tirelessly with 22 hours of footage, reworking and refining the story to make the documentary as engaging as it is. Thank you to Nicholas Schnier (http://www.nschnier.com/), the creator of the original soundtrack for this documentary, who conducted multiple interviews with me, to ensure that he got it just right – and he certainly did. Thank you to Madeline Ziniak for believing in my vision and Paritosh Mehta for being my lifeline at OMNI.
Toronto Premiere From left to right - Nicholas Schnier, Diane Akam, Nigel Akam, Madeline Ziniak - National Vice President, Rogers OMNI , Ingrid Berzins Leuzy, Gina Valle, Paritosh Mehta - Director, Independent Production Development, Rogers OMNI.
The Last Rite continues to air in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Please contact http://www.omnitv.ca/ for details.
First of all, thanks again for your invitation to attend the viewing of your film, The Last Rite. I want to commend you on a job well done! I think that by beginning from the basis of your own story, it grounded the film and gave it a foundation for your subsequent quest for meaning.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this month, I attended the 32nd Annual Conference of the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) in Kansas City, Missouri. The conference theme was: Dying, Death and Bereavement: It's All About The Stories.
There was a lot of focus on what the first keynote speaker, Thomas Lynch, called the "narrative arc between the living and the dead." The final keynote speaker, Robert A. Neimeyer, a recognized leader in the field of grief counseling, titled his talk: Loss, Grief And The Reconstruction Of Meaning. Neimeyer outlined 5 stages of that narrative arc.
(1) Sharing the story of loss. This includes dealing with questions/regrets about the death like: "Why didn't I ...?"; dealing with questions about identity: "Who am I now that my loved one is dead?"; dealing with questions about spirituality: i.e. "Why did God allow this?"; dealing with questions about life lessons: "What am I supposed to learn from this?"
(2) Re-telling (re-visiting) the story of loss. This can be like a "raid on the unspeakable", but re-telling can lessen the intensity of the emotion related to loss, especially in complicated grief therapy.
(3) Reconstructing the story of loss. This centres around an existential search for significance/meaning (which is a "spiritual" search whether or not religious language and tradition are invoked). As I reflected on how you said you needed to be alone quite often as a part of your grieving, I remembered Neimeyer's interesting statement in this segment of his presentation: "Time alone has little impact on the final outcome of grieving; it's what's done with the time that is significant."
(4) Integrating the story of loss. This focuses on the narrative "truth" of the story rather than on the "historical truth".
(5) Extending the story of loss. A private story of pain becomes a communal story of connection. An example: the woman who founded MADD because of the pain of having a child killed by a drunk driver.
As I watched your film, Gina, I saw all 5 elements of this narrative arc in the reconstruction of meaning taking place. You started with #s 1 and 2 as the building blocks and journeyed subsequently into and through the other stages. Your private story has now become a communal story of connection.
As for the comments by some people in the audience about the fact that you chose to focus more on the Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions instead of the Judaeo-Christian traditions, I wonder if they were missing the point, somewhat. As I mentioned, there are already plenty of resources related to the Judaeo-Christian traditions available ... but my response would be that that latter demographic has tended to be a death-denying culture and doesn't really want to look at it anyway. The gift of your work in this film may be to open a back door to some in the Judaeo-Christian traditions to begin exploring end-of-life issues and the grieving journey.
Again, Gina, thanks for your work and for the opportunity to view it. I look forward to the day that it will become available for purchase.
Blessings,
(Rev.) Ian Smith
Pastoral Coordinator
West Island Palliative Care Residence
Kirkland, Québec
Minister
Ste-Geneviève United Church
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec