Synopsis:

Ethan Sisser, a young man with terminal brain cancer, sits alone in his hospital room. When he starts livestreaming his death journey on social media, thousands of people around the world join to celebrate his courage. Still, Ethan envisions more – to teach the world how to die without fear. To do that, he needs to film his death.

Honoring Ethan's wish, his doctor Aditi Sethi transports him to an idyllic house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. What unfolds next is a story rarely glimpsed: how a community of strangers helps a young man die with grace.

A sensory immersion into leaving the body, “The Last Ecstatic Days” reveals a man who will not let us forget him – even after he’s taken his final breath.

Post-Screening Restorative Justice Dialogue:

Sandra Rodriguez, Director of Healing Pathways Program at The Ahimsa Collective

Sandra Rodriguez was born and raised in California and is the daughter of parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia, South America. She has over a decade of experience in restorative justice that includes work in process facilitation, community organizing, training/technical assistance and program development. Prior to joining the Ahimsa Collective, she spent over six years with the RJ Project (formerly at Impact Justice and now at Equal Justice USA), where she assisted community-based organizations around the country in the implementation of RJ diversion programs. From her current role at Ahimsa, she continues to function as a key partner on local and national initiatives focusing on RJ research, advocacy, policy development, and coalition building. At the core of all her work is the desire for BIPOC communities to reclaim, increase and sustain their power to heal, to dismantle systems of oppression and to build life-giving ways of being, so that future generations see liberation not as a dream or a goal, but as a lived reality. Sandra lives near the Russian River in Northern California and finds joy and love everyday in her partner, two dogs, two cats and gecko.

Karen Schousboe, Senior Restorative Justice Training Manager at Equal Justice USA

Karen is driven by a commitment to community building, collective trauma-healing, and truth-telling around historical harms. Before joining EJUSA in 2023, she was a program specialist on the Restorative Justice Project at Impact Justice. She has over eight years of experience in restorative justice and has been honored to design, build, and facilitate experiential trainings for community-based organization partners launching restorative justice diversion programs. Karen has also facilitated restorative justice dialogues, survivor support groups and convenings, and in-prison programs centered around healing with the Ahimsa Collective. She holds an M.A. in conflict analysis and transformation from the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Brit Fleck, Community Deathcare Fellow & Impact Producer at Community Deathcare Network

Brit Fleck is a gerontologist, birth & death care worker, activist, public health practitioner, and artist. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Yale University and is the Community Deathcare Fellow & Impact Producer for The Last Ecstatic Days. She is leading the charge of our impact campaign, The Community Deathcare Network bringing death literacy to your communities. She holds a B.S in Human Development & Aging from The University of Southern California School of Gerontology and a minor in Cinema-TV for Health Professions. In past lives, she has built products for seniors using human-centered design, helped scale a behavior change program, taught yoga at nursing homes, supported womxn in home births, helped people 'end well' in hospice, and has had the privilege of bearing witness to many people’s stories of love, loss, and awe. She believes that having an intimate relationship with death makes her more appreciative of life.

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"The Last Ecstatic Days" Screening at The New Parkway Theater

Join us for a screening of The Last Ecstatic Days followed by restorative justice circles about community healing and collective death care. All are welcome!