November « 2007 « The Suicide Tourist

November 29, 2007

The Suicide Tourist in Amsterdam

Filed under: Festivals — Ivan @ 3:17 am

The Suicide Tourist is showing this weekend at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2008 – Mary Ewert, widow of Craig Ewert, will be appearing to speak alongside director John Zaritsky.

The controversy surrounding active euthanasia has often placed the Netherlands at the centre of international debate. So far, people opting for euthanasia are mostly at the mercy of their governments’ official position on euthanasia. Switzerland, however, offers a way out for those who want to end their lives legally and humanely and cannot do so in their own country. There, a lawyer named Ludwig Minelli who founded the Dignitas organisation. Though bound by strict regulations, Dignitas can also supervise the active euthanasia of foreigners. Although the patients using his institute are disparagingly branded suicide tourists in the press, Minelli is convinced that Dignitas reduces the number of violent suicides that are increasingly taking place, notably among elderly people. In The Suicide Tourist, director John Zaritsky chooses an unadorned TV format to depict the gripping story of two couples. The American Craig Ewert, a terminal patient bound to become progressively paralysed, dies on film. A still relatively healthy American couple living in Greece* want to die in each other’s arms, but Dignitas turns down their request. In the meantime, staff members of Dignitas explain what motivates them to do this controversial job.

* Editor’s note: I believe that the Coumbias family is from Vancouver, making them Canadians; and they are of Greek extraction. If I’m wrong I will be happy to apologize and retract my statement.

Comments at the IDFA site include:

Five stars. A gift from the Ewerts for humanity.

When will the rest of the world have the same compassion as the Swiss, Holland, Belgium and Oregon?

A beautiful film of courage, bravery, love, compassion and wisdom. I feel immense appreciation for all involved in the production of this documentary. Ludwig Minelli deserves a Nobel prize for compassion and wisdom. Thank you all who were involved for this gift.

A film which stays with me and stays with me. Five thinking Stars from Peter Wintonick, POV mag.

On behalf of the Ewerts, I would like to say thank you – thank you for coming to see the film, for keeping an open mind, and for understanding the decision my father made. – Ivan Ewert

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November 24, 2007

CTV at 7 PM Eastern Time

Filed under: Broadcasts — Ivan @ 1:40 pm

CTV in Canada will broadcast The Suicide Tourist on Saturday, October 24 at 7 P.M. EST.

To see details, visit CTV.ca.

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Introduction

Filed under: About — Ivan @ 4:56 am

The Suicide Tourist: A Film by Oscar®-winning Director John Zaritsky

SYNOPSIS: The controversy about a person’s right to die at a time and place of their own choosing has become focused on the Swiss organization Dignitas, and its founder Ludwig Minelli. Dignitas, in Zurich Switzerland, is the only place in the world where a person seeking an assisted suicide can be helped to die, no matter where they are from – and no matter what their state of health. For the past year, Oscar-winning Canadian director John Zaritsky has had exclusive access to Dignitas, and its clients.

In The Suicide Tourist, Zaritsky tells two interwoven stories about suicide: In the first, he follows a terminally-ill man, 59 year-old American Craig Ewert, through the last four days of his life – preparing to leave his adopted home in England for the last time, then on his journey to Zurich, and into the care of Dignitas, with whose help he will end his life. Dignitas – a kind of travel agency to the afterlife – has made all the arrangements. The death will take place in a rented apartment, where a Dignitas employee will prepare a fatal dose of sodium pentobarbital. With his wife Mary at his side, Craig will swallow the poison, and slip quietly into a final sleep. Dignitas will arrange all the necessary paperwork, the body will be cremated, and the ashes shipped home to his family.

In Switzerland, the law says only that suicide must not be assisted for personal gain. Ludwig Minelli, the civil rights lawyer who founded and runs Dignitas, believes the option of a painless and dignified death is a basic human right, and should be legal for all, even those who aren’t ill. The second story in The Suicide Tourist will follow George and Betty Coumbias, from Vancouver, who will test that philosophy, and the Swiss tolerance for a law some say is giving Zurich a reputation for suicide tourism: George has terminal heart disease, and would like to choose the time of his death with the help of Dignitas; his wife Betty is determined to die with him, even though she is perfectly healthy.

Through these two intimate, compelling, and controversial stories, we will understand the difficult choices these couples have made; choices we, or our friends and family members, will be faced with at some point in our lives. The Suicide Tourist will take the audience on a journey they could only have imagined, and will not forget.

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