Ethan Sisser, a young man afflicted with brain cancer, sits alone in his hospital room. When he begins live-streaming his death journey on social media, thousands of people around the world join him and celebrate his courage. Still, Ethan envisions more – to teach the world how to die.

To honor his final wish of filming his death, his doctor, Aditi Sethi, transports him to a quiet house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. What unfolds next is a story that's rarely glimpsed: how a community of strangers helps an unhoused man die on his own terms.

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 Discussion:

Gary Ross-Reynolds

PhD, RN, Death Doula

As a Peace Corps volunteer, psychologist, nurse, and death doula, Gary's focus has been a life of service. As a doula who is gay, he is especially interested in focusing on end-of-life considerations of importance to the LGBTQIA+ community. Gary is a member of the Center for Conscious Living And Dying, a nonprofit in Swannanoa which provides free 24/7 nonmedical care to people in their last two months of life.

Mountaine Jonas

Performer, Producer, Director - Earthstage Productions

Mountaine has pursued conscious connection with spirit ever since 1969. He has been "working with" the wise, wisecracking, wiseass wizard Merlin for a dozen years, on youtube (Merlin Speaks), visiting kids in the hospital, and occasionally onstage, including the Asheville Fringe Festival in 2023. His Merlin will be joined by King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and Archimedes for "King Arthur's Body" at Asheville Fringe this March. He is a regular volunteer at Carepartners Hospice Solace Center, visiting residents and families with his clarinet, and has recently begun to volunteer with the Center for Conscious Living & Dying.

"The Last Ecstatic Days" Screening #2 with Integration Guides Gary Ross-Reynolds and Mountaine Jonas (**LGBTQIA+ Focused **)

An opportunity to see a life-affirming film about dying in community.

"The Last Ecstatic Days" Screening #2 with Integration Guides Gary Ross-Reynolds and Mountaine Jonas (LGBTQIA+ Focused )