Tash Christie & Dan Salmon (prods.), Andrew Merrifield (dir.)

This mainstream documentary, produced when assisted dying was illegal in Aotearoa/New Zealand, follows the stories of four people who would like the option to end their lives on their own terms. Its idiosyncratic combination of confronting subject manner and light mood demonstrates the complexity of requests for assisted dying.

Jessica Alva Piedra

Between 2019 and 2020, the Peruvian photographer Jessica Alva Piedra collaborated with the psychologist Ana Estrada to portray Estrada’s life with polymyositis and in palliative care. The resulting photos, a testimony to Estrada’s agency to represent her own body while advocating for the right to die, appeared in Estrada’s blog, in a photobook, and in media outlets around the world.

Sumira Roy (Director)

This quiet documentary displays the daily lives and material reality of octogenarian couple Narayan and Iravati Lavate who rose to prominence in 2018 for their plea to die by state-sanctioned euthanasia despite being physically and mentally healthy. The film humanizes Narayan and Iravati, showing the legal, societal and ethical resistance to their desire to “die with dignity.”

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.

Rowan Deacon (director)

This primetime television documentary follows UK resident Simon Binner, diagnosed with an aggressive form of motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), as he and those around him deal with his swiftly progressive illness and his decision to end his life through an assisted death in Switzerland.

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.

Gaëlle Hardy (director and writer), Agnès Lejeune (director and writer)

Marking almost twenty years since the introduction of euthanasia in Belgium, this documentary provides insights from the office of Dr Damas, a physician responsible for assisted dying in a Belgian public hospital.

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.

Eddy Terstall (director and writer)

Free-spirited Amsterdam resident Simon suffers from cancer and requests euthanasia, which is possible under Dutch law. The doctor complies with Simon’s request. The film represents euthanasia as one of the major achievements of a free and liberal society, with several progressive politicians citing it as a reflection of Dutch freedoms and values.

Pedro Almodóvar

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s 2024 adaptation of American author Sigrid Nunez’s novel ‘What Are You Going Through’ (2020) recounts Ingrid’s decision to care for her dying friend. The film portrays assisted dying positively by framing Ingrid’s decision to assist in her friend’s death as one motivated by compassion, even if it is understood otherwise by the state of New York.

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.