‘Fade to Black’ by Jeremy Ervine

‘Fade to Black’ begins with two stories told by individuals whose relatives killed themselves violently after struggling to live with life-limiting conditions. Petrol station chain CEO Peter Short wants an alternative to such a death. He has been living for several years with oesophageal cancer which has spread to his lungs, and wants control over the time and manner of his death. This film tells the story of how Peter was influential in bringing voluntary assisted dying to prominence in Australian politics through interviews with Peter, his wife Elizabeth and his son Mitchell, and politicians and activists from both sides of the right-to-die debate in Australia, including prominent assisted dying campaigners like Dr Rodney Syme or Dr Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International. Peter becomes the public face of Senator Richard di Natale’s 2014 Dying with Dignity Bill, and gives evidence to a senate committee alongside pro-life campaigners from groups such as Family Voice and Catholic Health Australia. As his health deteriorates, however, he and his family realise he is dying. In one scene, as Peter appears to struggle to breathe, Elizabeth speaks to the camera, asking ‘Why? Why is he lingering another 24, another 48 hours?’. The film ends with footage of Peter just after he has died, his funeral and the scattering of his ashes, accompanied by text describing how Victoria is the only state yet to legalise assisted dying

The film echoes Peter’s practical upbeat approach to his situation, with jokes, jazzy music and limited emotional content. It focuses on Peter’s campaign for a change in the law and on the ambiguous ethical differences between terminal sedation and euthanasia. The film is critical of religious Australians, setting up an unfair comparison between them and secular Australians who are implied to be more rational. Contributions from pro-life advocates such as Margaret Tighe (Right to Life Australia) and Lachlan Dunjey (Medicine with Morality) are undercut and intercut by refutations of their positions from pro-choice voices such as Senator di Natale or broadcaster and Go Gentle founder Andrew Denton. This antagonistic approach is clearly expressed when, in a phone conversation after appearing on a daytime television debate alongside Tighe, Peter describes her as a ‘bloody old bitch’ and is proud that he ‘chewed her up and spat her out’. At the same time, the film is not entirely dogmatic. Notably, Peter does not take the Nembutal that he has sourced illegally to help him die and distances his own opinions from Nitschke’s less restricted campaigning. The film was crowd-funded, with large donations from Dying with Dignity groups. It was screened via pre-booked screenings across Australia, allowing a sense of a grassroots movement, and later shown on television. An associated petition supporting di Natale’s Bill gained over 24,000 signatures. The documentary, and Short’s case in general, were influential in popularising assisted dying in Australia and are well-cited in state and parliamentary debates leading up to legalisation.