This Sundance-winning doco showing Oregon’s Death with Dignity legislation in action is a trenchant, impressively honest work of advocacy. “A hard but incredibly moving, even transformative watch.” — Boston Globe
A hard but incredibly moving, even transformative watch.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
How to Die in Oregon 2011
Peter Richardson’s close observation of Oregon’s Death with Dignity legislation in action is a trenchant and impressively honest work of advocacy. Clearly honouring those who have chosen to avail themselves of the right to die, he allows for the uncertainties that inevitably surround their decisions and the rawness of the barely evolving procedures around enacting them. — BG
“The rare film that dares to detail the physical, emotional and philosophical challenges attendant to human mortality, Peter D. Richardson’s beautifully intimate documentary uses the titular state’s Death with Dignity Act to portray terminally ill patients who choose to end their lives painlessly and legally. Aptly harrowing, but inspiring as well, the film finds an unforgettable subject in Cody Curtis, a 54-year-old woman whose liver cancer forces her to weigh life and death on ever-tipping scales. This exquisite documentary, winner of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize, wisely favors the personal over the political, meriting impassioned responses wherever it plays.” — Rob Nelson, Variety