A Friend in Death tells the story of the Sacred Heart Biography Service at St Vincent’s Hospital, which offers people in palliative care the opportunity to work with a trained biography volunteer to tell their life story.
The documentary follows two of the Service’s biographers, long-term volunteer Kerry Little and newly recruited Kris McIntyre, as they record the biographies of their terminally-ill clients, opening an unexpected pathway of healing and acceptance through the telling of their wonderful life stories.
Kerry believes the process of hearing and telling someone’s life story is a journey of healing that gives meaning to the lives of her terminally ill clients, while Kris’s own close call with cancer has sparked curiosity about how others face their death.
Writer, director, and editor Josh Lee was inspired to make A Friend in Death after a close friend, Natasha Esau, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Alice Wolfe produced the Periscope Pictures and Josh Lee production, which was developed and produced with the assistance of Screenwest and Lotterywest, and developed with support from Screen Australia.
A Friend in Death will screen as part of ABC TV’s Compass program on Sunday, May 15 at 7.30pm on ABC TV Plus with encore screenings on Sunday, May 22 at 6.30pm and Sunday, May 29 at 11am. It will also be available on ABCiview after the premiere screening.