Welcome!
The When You Die team is thrilled to partner with Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden and David Maginley! A screening of the second film in the When You Die Trilogy: "Saying Goodbye: Preparing for Death” as well as for a very special Live Q&A. You will have access to stream the film from January 15th-22nd, 2023 with the Live Q&A being held on January 21st, at 6pm EST.
We believe talking about death isn’t dangerous but, conversely, can nurture happier, healthier individuals and families who approach death informed, inspired, and with a sense of humor. The way we live has progressed immensely since the industrial age, yet the way we die has stayed largely the same. Many of the changes that have developed — such as 80% of people dying in hospitals rather than at home — seem to us to be the opposite of progress.
We believe it’s time for a death revolution and that the best way to start that revolution is simply by talking.
To watch the first film in the When You Die Trilogy, Chapter 1: "In the Realm of Death & Dreaming", which asks the big question: "Does conscious continue or is it lights out?" Please click here.
About the Film:
Director Johanna Lunn narrates this second chapter in the When You Die trilogy, which addresses our mortality head on. She guides viewers through fear and into honest conversations about the questions most of us avoid: What is a good death? Could we possibly heal old emotional wounds as death approaches? Where do we want to die? What quality of life is enough for us? What is a conscious death? Could we have one?
As hard as it is to believe, we know, in the depths of our being, death will come – either through a diagnosis, or from a sudden accident. Don’t wait until you’re in crisis to decide how you want to be cared for. Difficult as it is, making decisions now about what we want when facing the inevitable, is a great kindness to yourself, and to your loved ones.
Experts featured in the documentary: Rev. David Maginley, M.Div; Dr. Laurie Mallery, MD; Dr. Paige Moorehouse, MD; Dr. Penny Sartori, PhD; Dr. Peter Fenwick, MD; Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson, MD; Sue Brayne, MA; Dr. Anthony Bossis, PhD; Dr. Andrew Holecek, DDS; Rev. Olivia Bareham; Jill Shock, MA; Julie McFadden, RN
About The Director:
An award-winning producer and director, with more than 35 years of film and television experience, Johanna is using her lifelong curiosity about the death and dying process to bring documentaries about, "What happens when we die?" to life.
“At a young age I witnessed a number of significant deaths that completely cracked my world apart. Because it was taboo to talk about death at the time, I felt terribly isolated. Looking back on those experiences, and with the wisdom of having done much research on dying, I have learned that death, like birth, is one of the most extraordinary events in life, and it is critical that we learn to talk about it."
By talking about death and exploring what happens, Johanna hopes to make the topic less fearful and more normalized, one film at a time. Johanna lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband Steve and their intrepid companion Gracie, an empathic chocolate lab.
About Julie McFadden:
Julie McFadden, BSN, RN, has been a nurse for 15 years. She is highly experienced in the Intensive Care Unit. But for the past 6 years she has focused her work on hospice and palliative care in California. In the summer of 2021 she recognized the vast scale of TikTok’s ability to reach people, so she decided to share her experiences and the information she has gathered about death and dying. It was her intention to challenge the idea that talking about death and addressing it head on is taboo. By educating people and disseminating some of her own experiences, she hoped her videos would help people become more comfortable with talking about death.
What Julie didn’t expect was to become a viral sensation seemingly overnight. It turns out people are very curious about the end stages of life and what happens when they die. In her original viral video, called The Rally, she discusses what many of her patients experience as they begin the process of nearing the end of life, experiences science can’t explain. Her popularity grew after an article in Newsweek discussed her videos and her unusual ability to educate people on the topic of death. After articles appeared in various other publications, Julie’s following has grown to over 1.1M on TikTok and over 175K, and growing, on Instagram. She continues to be passionate about normalizing death through her educational and inspiring videos on social media, so much so that she is now writing a book to be released spring 2024! Her hope is that people will begin to view death as a natural aspect of life, and to the extent possible, diminish the overwhelming fearfulness it generates.
You can find her on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
About David Maginley
David Maginley, M.Div, CSPC is an interfaith spiritual counsellor at the QEll Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and author of Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. He has also survived cancer four times, which led to a profound near-death experience and explorations in consciousness and the connection of body, mind and spirit. With degrees in philosophy and as an ordained minister, David has a deep sense of purpose in supporting others in their spiritual journey. He knows what it's like to have cancer from both sides of the hospital bed, and has a sense of this life from both sides of the veil.
David is a certified specialist with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care, a minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, and a member of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, the Atlantic Therapeutic Touch Network, and the International Association for Near-Death Studies.
David co-hosts a podcast on coping with cancer, regularly presents to support groups and healthcare professionals, and is an avid photographer. His writing and images explore themes of mortality, compassion, resilience and hope - themes relevant to anyone seeking a deeper spiritual path, in addition to those facing cancer.
You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and his Website
Reviews:
"I enjoyed the interviews with people who are around death in hospitals and hospices, and their insights into the dying persons' experiences of death."
"I was crying at how much all the things that I have been feeling about death and dying were talked about in the film. I want to show it to everyone I know!"
"This film is a sincere and loving invitation for people to consider not only their death, but their joyful life."
"There are illuminating insights about the process of dying: how to think about ways to help loved ones experience a "good death", which isn't something I thought was possible."
" It was a very moving piece, which depicted how death can teach us to live and how we can die consciously."
"It was very down to earth, easy to understand, very credible, and completely relatable."
"This film made me feel death does not need to be feared. It gave me knowledge and makes me want to explore a 'good death'. To be prepared for my own death. It has given me a gift."
"I appreciate that this film is for people who are actively dying, families who may have a dying family member, people who are healthy but are afraid of death, Death Doulas, Hospice Nurses, medical students, medical professionals.... It reaches everyone with a great message."
For more information about the film, and the When You Die project, please visit our website and follow us on Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Reminder: To watch Chapter 1: "In the Realm of Death & Dreaming", which asks the big question: "Does conscious continue or is it lights out?" Please click here.
