Living With Dying

A COMPASSIONATE CONVERSATION SERIES.

“‘Living With Dying” is a 6-part series that takes the viewer into the world of facing a life-limiting illness as a patient and as a caregiver. It is intimate, warm and tender. It is exquisitely shot featuring the beauty of the Sunshine Coast forests and oceans where many people find solace and peace. There are tears and there is humour. Most of all, there is great honesty.”

- Donna Shugar, Chair of the Coast Hospice Education and Outreach Committee

The idea for this project came from Katie Clogg during the pandemic, when people facing a life-limiting illness and their caregivers were also dealing with isolation and could not benefit from in-person contact to access community support and resources. We are grateful to our Education and Outreach Committee members for their determination and energy in making the film a reality: Marlena Blavin, Corinne Thorsell and Donna Shugar. They transformed the vision into a documentary series of videos featuring stories that help people know that they are not alone on this difficult path. The videos would offer a resource that could be easily accessed online, at any time and by everyone.

The ancient wisdom of Indigenous teachings is woven throughout Living With Dying, thanks to the generous participation of shíshálh Elder, Monata Bev Dixon. The brilliant Gibsons filmmakers Velcrow Ripper and Nova Ami of Transparent Media were the interviewers, the cinematographers, editors and sound engineers. The funding was provided by the Ananda Fund.

The series premiered at a community event in April 2022, and since then, the production has had a profound impact on the Sunshine Coast and beyond. We are now preparing a compendium of resources that will soon be added to the website to inform our community’s conversation about topics explored in the film.

Visit our resources page to view the film.