Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 PM
HOLIDAY GRIEF: JUDY’S THOUGHTS
Special screening and discussion on managing holiday grief, featuring Judy's Thoughts Filmmaker Melody Gilbert, End in Mind Founder Cathy Wurzer, and Grief Counselor Gayle Crandell from Crocus Hill Counseling Center. Proceeds from the event will benefit End in Mind Project and MSP Film Society.
The holidays are often a minefield for those who are grieving. The grief could be fresh or the wound suffered years ago. It doesn't matter. Memories serve as constant reminders of loss. Watching others celebrate can be painful and overwhelming. Award winning filmmaker Melody Gilbert created a moving film about the final days of her mother, who died of an aggressive form of cancer. Her mother used an old tape recorder to document the last few weeks of her life and impending death. For almost 40 years, Melody didn’t listen to that tape, until she finally pressed play in 2020. The result is a film, Judy’s Thoughts, that is a meditation on living and dying…and loving. Join the MSP Film Society and End in Mind Project Thursday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis for a special screening, followed by a discussion with Melody Gilbert and journalist and End in Mind founder Cathy Wurzer, plus grief specialist Gayle Crandell.
About the Film | Judy's Thoughts
by Melody Gilbert | 13 min. | 2022
In 1981, my mom was living a vibrant life when she was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of cancer. As the illness quickly progressed, she recorded her thoughts to process the unfathomable. For 39 years I kept the tape secured safely with me through every move, but I remained unable to bring myself to listen to it. In 2020, I finally pressed play. What I heard was a deeply moving and shockingly intimate document of the full gamut of emotions my mother felt during what turned out to be her final weeks. I processed my emotions the only way I know how—by making a film. Incorporating mixed media, AI photos, dance, animation, and motion graphics, I reach across the decades to partner with my mother in creating a moving meditation on living and dying. Through her words, we experience the beauty of life- and her yearning to live and love- even as she approaches death. It's like a secret path to a world we don't know about. –Melody Gilbert, Director/Producer
Director: Melody Gilbert
Producer: Igor Myakotin
Cinematographer: Maribeth Romslo
Editor: Igor Myakotin
Sound Mix: Jesse Marks
Animators: Beth Peloff, Silvia Emme, Anna DuPlantis
Dancer: Genevieve Waterbury
ABOUT END IN MIND PROJECT
End in Mind takes the universal experience of dying to help you re-imagine what it means to live fully at any stage of life. We are leading a movement to change how our culture engages with loss, dying and death. We do this by inspiring individuals, families and communities to explore their fears around death and dying, then creatively encouraging deeper inquiry into how to live with intention, purpose and meaning at any stage of life.
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