Six women’s lives change when they take on their 38-year-old friend’s at-home death care, backyard funeral and green burial. One of them is so inspired by the healing experience that she sets out to make green burials accessible to all.
Set in the rural Ottawa Valley, WHEN I DIE is the story of six women who, on learning the shocking news that their 38-year-old friend Sabrina is dying of cancer, are given by her the ultimate responsibility: to take care of her body in her home when she dies, for three days of mourning, and arrange her "hands-on" backyard funeral and green burial. What surprises them is not just how simple it is, but how much healing takes place as they tend to her body and say goodbye. Megan, one of those women, is so moved by the life-changing experience that she resolves to take on the challenge of making at-home death care and green burial accessible to all. This story challenges us to re-examine our relationship with death, and invites us to reclaim these forgotten skills as a means of grief management, healing, empowerment and reciprocity with nature. This story is told using a combination of vérité, interview, archival video, dream-like re-created scenes, and stop-motion animation made by Megan, the protagonist, in collaboration with award-winning animator bekky O'Neil.
Susannah Heath-Eves is a documentary filmmaker based in Ottawa, Ontario, living and working on unceded Algonquin, Anishinabek territory. Her debut feature, JUGAAD, streamed on Netflix and was acquired by CBC’s Documentary Channel. She is currently finishing her second feature, TAKE IT OUTSIDE: BEYOND CLASSROOM WALLS, in production on her third feature doc, WHEN I DIE, and has made several shorts for CBC. While living in Montreal, she worked as a production supervisor and co-editor with EyeSteelFilm. She has also reported and produced for CTV and CBC Radio, and has a masters in journalism from Carleton U. In 2024 Susannah was nominated Ottawa’s best video editor.
Executive Producer and Story Editor - Nigel Levy
Lead Animator - bekky O'Neil
Composer - Shane Mendonsa
