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Witnessing Death: a grandson's reflections
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List Price: $19.95
Medicine Alternatives Price: $19.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: CustomFlix
Starring: David Rosenthal
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: DVD
EAN: 0883629050782
Format: NTSC
Label: CustomFlix
Manufacturer: CustomFlix
Publisher: CustomFlix
Region Code: 0
Release Date: 2006-07-24
Studio: CustomFlix
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Editorial Reviews:
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Witnessing Death: a grandson's reflections (27 min) is a short video piece made by medical student David Rosenthal about his grandfather Kurt Rosenthal. By interweaving his grandfather's struggle with Alzheimer's, the personal experiences of certified nursing aides, and interviews with clinical experts and medical ethicists, the video functions as both a personal memoir and as a dialogue on end-of-life issues. Made at the Buehler Center on Aging Summer Program on Geriatrics & Gerontology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, copyright 2005. "David Rosenthal's new short film "Witnessing Death" is a powerful, inquisitive film essay about the death of the filmmaker's Grandfather, Kurt Rosenthal from Alzheimer's. In contrast to our habitual, perhaps even socially mandated tendency to sweep the details of death under the rug until we must personally confront them in silence, "Witnessing Death" addresses them with a lucid honesty that does justice not only to the difficulty of dying, but also to the way the process defines us as family, community and culture." -Carla Blackmar Sparrowpost.net "This film beautifully captures the experiences of those who provide intimate and important care for patients facing the end of life: nurses and clinical nursing assistants. By combining their voices with his own experience as a family member and with the experiences of physicians and bioethicists, David Rosenthal has given us a valuable tool for learning and understanding." - Joshua Hauser, M.D. Instructor in Medicine and Palliative Care, Associate Physician with the Education for Physicians on End of Life Care (EPEC) Project This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great for Hospice Volunteer Training!
Comment: I am a Hospice Volunteer Coordinator / Manager for Mission Hospice in South Pasadena, CA. I bought this DVD to show my new volunteers. Its a great film and is well done. Its only 26 minutes long but seems much much longer. Its perfect for a hospice volunteer inservice. Although its not about hospice its about the patient, family and dying, its still a good film for hospice.
Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent integration of emotional and intellectual stances
Comment: "In Witnessing Death, David Rosenthal uses his own experience of his grandfather's death to structure an exploration of the meaning of witnessing death, both to direct care workers and to academic and clinical experts on end-of-life care. The result is an excellent integration of emotional and intellectual stances toward approaching death, in which nurse's aides' perceptions provide a middle ground between the too-near family experience and the too-distant experts."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thank you for sharing yourself so authentically!
Comment: "Your filming and commentary were so real, so tender. Thank you for sharing yourself so authentically. My husband's mother has Alzheimer's so I found it highly relevant and very moving. I don't even know you and yet I felt so proud of you for taking action, acknowledging your desire to have closure with both your grandfathers and sharing your work so that others can hopefully handle death better."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Valuable tool for learning and understanding!
Comment: "This film beautifully captures the experiences of those who provide intimate and important care for patients facing the end of life: nurses and clinical nursing assistants. By combining their voices with his own experience as a family member and with the experiences of physicians and bioethicists, David Rosenthal has given us a valuable tool for learning and understanding."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful, inquisitive film!
Comment: Reviewed by Carla Blackmar
David Rosenthal's new short film "Witnessing Death" is a powerful, inquisitive film essay about the death of the filmmaker's Grandfather, Kurt Rosenthal from Alzheimer's. In contrast to our habitual, perhaps even socially mandated tendency to sweep the details of death under the rug until we must personally confront them in silence, "Witnessing Death" addresses them with a lucid honesty that does justice not only to the difficulty of dying, but also to the way the process defines us as family, community and culture.
The film begins with footage of Rosenthal's Grandfather about four years after he has been diagnosed with the disease, at a time when his more youthful personality is still visible in his quips and interactions with Rosenthal and his camera. Over the course of the film, we see his grandfather diminish, thinning physically and withdrawing cognitively as he grows closer to death. The film centers on the way the progression of Alzheimer's confounds the social conventions associated with "the good death." How does one say goodbye during such a prolonged period of departure?
In order to answer this question, Rosenthal seeks out different perspectives on the role the living play in the life of the dying. Rosenthal has a gift for conducting and filming interviews, and his discussions with doctors, nurses and chaplains are woven into his personal narrative, re-shaping his understanding as his grandfather moves towards death.
Some of the most remarkable interviews are those Rosenthal conducts with CNAs (Certified Nurses Assistants) who attend to the most basic needs of the dying in nursing home facilities. Following close on the heels of a comment from a psychotherapist about the way our culture doesn't value "caring for the body of the dying," the CNAs frankly describe what it is like to do just that on a daily basis. While the CNAs are open about the difficulty of their work, they nonetheless assert that there is an element of closeness and sanctity in serving those who can no longer serve themselves. It is surprising to hear CNAs suggest that there is something tanscendent about work so many of us imagine to be repugnant and dismal. It is remarkable to hear that there can be something redemptive about dying: a process so many of us would like to ignore, or even to euthanize our way out of.
The startling interviews with the CNAs mark a turning point in the film. In contrast to our familiar way of talking about disease and dying in martial terms "battle with cancer" or "struggle against Alzheimers," the interviewees suggest a different approach, not fighting or curing, but instead "witnessing" death; to mark someone's departure from the world with the same attentions merited by someone's entry as an infant.
In the case of Kurt Rosenthal's passing, this "witnessing" is accomplished quite beautifully in his Grandson's film. As sad as it is to watch Alzheimer's steady progression, the care Rosenthal has taken in telling the story of his Grandfather's end is a testament to the life he led prior to the stage chronicled in the film.
Though we are told almost nothing of Kurt Rosenthal's life from the film; (there are no old black and white pictures, grainy 8mm footage, or nostalgic reminiscing), we can't help but feel as though we know him through the process of watching his son and grandson witness his death. The love evident in these last attentions tells us volumes about the man Kurt Rosenthal was in life.
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