June 9, 2015

New film on a brave young woman's end of life

At 9:00 p.m. (CST) this Saturday (6/13), the National Geographic Channel will feature the hour-long film "I am dying," produced by Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix. It is the story of the final chapter of life for 32-year-old Renee Heidtman, who died of cancer in 2012. I have seen only preview clips, but it promises to be an intimate and meaningful look at this young woman's journey to the end of her life. Her willingness to allow the documentation of her dying and death will serve as a illuminating lesson on a subject that we seem to know so little about, what it means to die.