Death and the Civil War by
This installment examines how the Civil War death toll, which is estimated to have been 750,000 people (2.5 percent of the nation's population at the time), affected the nation's psyche. Based on Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust's book This Republic of Suffering, the documentary includes remarks from her and fellow historians David W. Blight, Vincent Brown, J. David Hacker, and Mark S. Schantz poet Thomas Lynch, Adm. Mike Mullen (USN Ret.), a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and George Will.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: facing death by
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross who has devoted her life to the study of death and dying, has done much to de-stigmatize dying and to draw attention to the treatment of the terminally ill. Now she lives in seclusion in the Arizona desert, on the verge of the transition she researched so passionately. Conversations with Elisabeth form the core of the film as she looks back on her life, describes her childhood and her work and explains how she herself faces aging and impending death. Includes interviews with family and colleagues, as well as extensive archival material.
Extremely loud & incredibly close by
Oskar is convinced that his father, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a message for him hidden in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother and driven by an active mind that refuses to believe in things that can't be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father's closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his loss to a greater understanding of the world around him.
Flight from death: the quest for immortality by
Uncovers death anxiety as a possible root cause of many of our behaviors on a psychological, spiritual, and cultural level. Explores the ongoing research of a group of social psychologists which substantiates Ernest Becker's claim that death anxiety is a primary motivator of human behavior, specifically aggression and violence.
Monsieur Lazhar by
A teacher and his students learn from one another in the wake of a tragedy in this drama from director Philippe Falardeau. Simon (Emilien Neron) and Alice (Sophie Nelisse) are a pair of grade-school students who make a shocking discovery one day when they witness their teacher taking her own life in their classroom. The school's principal (Danielle Proulx) wants things back to normal as soon as possible, and when substitute teacher Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag) drops off his resume after learning of the tragedy, he's hired almost on the spot. The children don't immediately take to Lazhar, since most of them have never had a male teacher before, and Lazhar has his own adjustments to deal with -- he's an Algerian immigrant new to Montreal, he's still learning the finer points of Quebecois French, and his teaching style differs from that of his new colleagues. But as Lazhar tries to guide Simon, Alice, and their classmates through the shock of what has happened, he also finds the experience helps him heal after struggling with a loss of his own. Monsieur Lazhar (aka Bachir Lazhar) won the Audience Award at the 2011 Locarno Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Tuesdays with Morrie by
Detroit Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom (Hank Azaria) has found success and popularity in his occupation, but emotionally and spiritually he is bankrupt. While watching television one night, he comes across an episode of the news showNightline and learns that his former university professor Morrie Schwartz (Jack Lemmon) is battling A.L.S. -- better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. At first, Mitch is reluctant to pay his former mentor a visit, since, at his graduation ceremony, Mitch promised to remain in contact with Morrie but failed to make good on that promise. Mitch eventually overcomes his uneasiness and, to his surprise, finds a very warm welcome from Morrie. The two begin to discuss the issues of happiness, life, and death, and they soon begin to meet on a weekly basis as Mitch reassumes the role of Morrie's student. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi