Documentaries about death

Filmed in an observational style, BEFORE WE FORGET is the interwoven story of two Singaporean families and their year-long journey with dementia. The film tells the story of Joyce Fernandez, a 50- year-old woman caring for her mother Celine, who has had Alzheimer's Disease for 7 years. When Celine suffers a mild stroke and is hospitalized for over three months, Joyce attempts to keep herself together especially after Celine lost all what little speech and she originally had. "Mum and I would have good conversations. But not anymore. I didn't lose a mother, I lost a friend". The duo, both staunch Catholics, keep their heads above the emotional turmoil through daily prayer. The camera also captures frank interviews with Dr Irene Giam (PhD), a former mathematics tutor and atheist with strong views about death in the face of terminal illness. She is first filmed after being diagnosed with 'mild cognitive impairment' likely due to systemic fibrosis, an autoimmune disorder which affects her breathing. After she is warded in a hospice because of her rapidly worsening health, vascular dementia causes her to forget the frequent visits by her husband and deepens her feelings of loneliness. BEFORE WE FORGET observes how dementia slowly and subtly stresses and affect both families. It also depicts candid moments of joy amid the quiet suffering they have to endure.

This compelling documentary details the strange-but-true murder trial of Delbert Ward, accused of the mercy killing of his brother in rural upstate NY. This real-life murder mystery won the Audience Award at Sundance.

Unblinking and unsettling, this documentary lays bare a mysterious process that goes on all around us - what happens to people who die with no next of kin.

Anyone who knew Babz Chula-a talented, larger-than-life actress-could tell you that her life force, or chi, was incredibly strong. When Babz reconnected with director Anne Wheeler in 2009, they discovered a mutual interest - India. Babz easily convinces Anne to join her on a journey to Kerala, where 63-year-old Babz will undergo treatment by a renowned Ayurvedic healer in an effort to rid herself of the cancer that has been threatening her life for the last six years. Anne suggests she bring her camera and film the treatment, and Babz enthusiastically agrees. Not all goes according to plan when they arrive; the centre is far less sophisticated than Babz anticipated, and she is very ill from her last round of chemotherapy and the long journey. But, after six weeks of treatments, introspection, and laughs with Anne at the bare-bones clinic, Babz seems to show considerable physical and psychic improvement. At least that's what Anne believes is happening, until they return home and it is revealed that Babz's cancer has spread-new tumors are present and she has weeks, if not just days, to live. And now all the things they'd pondered in India, like facing death without fear or a belief in a God, become an imminent reality. Amazingly, the irrepressible Babz invites Anne and her camera to continue bearing witness to her journey into the unknown.