Mortal: The Making of a Film about Death
PRODUCER: Bobby Sheehan
Hi, I’m Bobby Sheehan,
About a year ago, I had a very uncomfortable realization that Skip my father-in-law was beginning to die. At first, I pushed the thought to the side, but reality doesn’t go away. I never met my dad, so Skip had taken on the job and had taught me all the things any son would want to learn. And his method was by example. How lucky I am to have had him in my life. And although he died on January 16th 2015, he will always be part of my life.
As I began to talk to people about what was happening with Skip people opened up and shared their feelings – not just about death, but what’s important in life. Eventually, I understood that the universe wanted me to do my job create a film on the taboo subject of death. While shooting I am learning that what we all seem to want is meaning. A successful life is one where you’ve paid attention. When you stop and say, “Okay, what did I do in my 20s, what did I do in my 30s, what were the failures that I had, what were the successes that I had, I had a family,” you’re taking stock. That is a legacy, and that is a worthwhile life. Regardless of the ups and the downs that you’ve had. When you have a good death, it means you had a good life; it means you had a positive life, a meaningful life. A lot of us would love to have success, would love to have all these other things, but when you’re dying, when you’re leaving the world, the meaning is more important than the success. The meaning is something that you feel in your soul.
You are welcome to join us in this discussion on Thursday June 25th from 7:00 to 11:00. We will screen excerpts from MORTAL, followed by a discussion that is guaranteed to be very human.
