let life end with dignity? On April 30, Nandu reporters learned that "Being Mortal," the country's first documentary film focusing on hospice care and end-of-life companionship, will be officially released on May 21.
The film is directed by Luo Su, with Xu Xiao as the producer and Li Bo as the editing director. It mainly records the life stories of hospice volunteers in Guangzhou.
The pilot poster uses three pairs of hands of volunteers and the dying person as the background, either clasping or touching. Through the movements of each "hand", the volunteers and the dying person complete the mutual transmission of emotions. The state of each hand, whether old or young, also intuitively reflects different stages of life.
"Chinese traditional culture is relatively taboo about talking about death." Teacher Kuang, one of the protagonists in the film, a volunteer, expressed the fear of death that most people have.
By chance seven years ago, director Luo Sui came into contact with a group of hospice care volunteers in Guangzhou. From the beginning of 2018 to the middle of 2021, over a period of three and a half years, she successively recorded the life stories of these volunteers, and spent more than two years completing post-production, and finally presented these in the film "The Last, the First" " in the documentary film.
"No one can escape this end of life. Rather than rushing into battle unprepared and unprepared, leaving behind lifelong regrets, it is better to face death as soon as possible and know how to accompany and say goodbye. Perhaps this is the best way to deal with the impermanence of the world. Method." In the short video vlog of the film, the director shared his creative motivation.
"The Last and the First" truly records the stories of several hospice volunteers. They approached hospice care when faced with life difficulties related to death confusion. In the process of accompanying the dying, they not only learned to face death, but also understood the true meaning of companionship, and achieved "living toward death."
In the film, Kuang Shengli, Xu Manxiu, Jiang Wenyong, Feng Xuexia and more unnamed volunteers use their own different ways to accompany the dying person to finish their last journey of life with dignity and peace. "Companions" and "dying people" "Accompanying each other, growing in both directions, and finally completing reconciliation with life and death.
It is reported that "The Last, the First" was selected for the wip documentary unit of the 18th Hong Kong Asian Film Investment Conference, and was shortlisted for the review unit of the 20th China (Guangzhou) International Documentary Festival.
Written by: Nandu reporter Yang Liyun
