Sue Rodriguez

In this videotaped address to Parliament, Sue Rodriguez, who was dying of ALS and wanted an assisted death, asks ‘If I cannot give consent to my own death […] who owns my life?’ While the Supreme Court of Canada heard her case in 1993 and ultimately decided against her, the publicization of Rodriguez’s story informed much public thinking about assisted dying laws in Canada.

Liz Carr (writer/presenter), James Routh (director)

This BBC documentary follows actor and disability campaigner Liz Carr as she explores reasons why assisted dying, which she calls assisted suicide, should not be legalised in the UK. It is unusual both for constituting a mainstream programme that openly opposes legalisation of assisted dying, and for doing so using humour.

Daniel Posada (director and screenwriter), Ignacio del Moral (screenwriter)

The poet Carlos Framb wakes in a hospital bed, handcuffed and accused of homicide. He had attempted suicide after assisting his mother Luzmila Alzate to die, which he claims was an act of love. Inspired by Framb’s 2009 memoir by the same title, but with notable differences, this 2024 film turns a real story into a courtroom drama about the individual rights to death and to abortion.

Canadian Partnership Against Cancer

Donald Low, a Canadian physician and microbiologist, records a plea in favour of medical aid in dying after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Jeremy Ervine (dir.)

After learning that his oesophageal cancer has spread to his lungs, petrol station chain CEO Peter Short becomes the face of an Australian Senate assisted dying bill. This crowd-funded documentary recounts his political campaign, and his (unassisted) death, featuring interviews from Short’s family alongside ones from politicians and activists from both sides of the Australian right-to-die debate.

Sanjay Leela Bhansaali (Writer and Director)

‘Guzaarish’ is a Bollywood film about Ethan Mascarenhas, a quadriplegic radio jockey who faces legal and public pushback after petitioning for state-sanctioned euthanasia. Structured around a legal battle, ‘Guzaarish’ is a comedy, romance, drama, and a musical starring two of Bollywood’s biggest stars. The film introduced India’s cinema-going audience to assisted death.

Jeremy Sims (director and writer), Reg Cribb (writer)

Loosely based on real events in the mid-1990s during a brief period when voluntary assisted dying was legal in Australia’s Northern Territory, this fiction film follows terminally ill taxi driver Rex as he drives 3,000km north to Darwin to try to become the first person in the world to die using an assisted dying machine.

Reid Davenport (director)

In this documentary, American filmmaker Reid Davenport tells the story of Elizabeth Bouvia who wanted a legal assisted death in the 1980s in California. Through this case and more recent ones, he shows how decisions around assisted death are complicated for people with disabilities by ableism and a lack of access to care, contributing to ongoing debates about expanding access to assisted death.

Alejandro Amenábar (director and writer), Mateo Gil (writer)

For almost thirty years, Ramón Sampedro has been paralysed from the neck down. Having had enough of his paraplegic state, Ramón decides that he wants to die and seeks the help of an assisted dying lobby group to generate support for his case. When all legal avenues fail, a small group of his friends help Ramón to end his life.

Pola Rapaport (director)

The Belgian wheelchair athlete Marieke Vervoort suffered from progressive myelopathy, a rare degenerative muscle disease. The winner of multiple medals at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games experienced increasingly unbearable pain and chose to pass away through euthanasia in 2019, which is presented in a positive light. As a public figure, her case sparked widespread debate in the media.

Valeria Golino (Director), Valia Santella (Writer)

In Valeria Golino’s ‘Miele’, Irene illegally assists in the deaths of terminally ill individuals. Her understanding of her work is challenged, however, when she meets Carlo who wishes to die but is physically healthy. The film is more interested in Irene’s internal conflict than in advancing a position for or against assisted dying, yet it nonetheless explores various opinions and experiences.

The Fifth Estate, CBC News

This documentary follows the final year in the life Gloria Taylor, a plaintiff in the court case that led to the legalization of medical assistance in dying in Canada. The film provides an overview of debates prior to legalization by documenting Gloria’s experience with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, her legal team’s approach, and the response of those who oppose her case.

Barry Levinson (director), Adam Mazer (writer)

‘You Don’t Know Jack’ recounts the period in Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s life between 1990 when he assisted in the death of Janet Adkins and 1998 when, after assisting in over 100 deaths, he was convicted of second-degree murder for assisting in the death of Thomas Youk. The film portrays the controversial Kevorkian in a very flattering light, as an underdog and hero, and, above all, a caring doctor.