BRATTLEBORO-Other Side, a documentary about a terminally ill Connecticut woman's quest to end her life using Vermont's Patient Choice and Control at End of Life law (Act 39), will be shown at the Latchis Theatre Sunday, Sept. 28, at 4 p.m.
Directed by Carter Oakley and Heather Hogan, Other Side offers an intimate portrayal of Lynda Bluestein's final year, emphasizing themes of autonomy, love, and the right to choose one's end-of-life path. The documentary premiered to large audiences at the South by Southwest Festival in March, and event promoters say it has resonated deeply with audiences, sparking meaningful conversations about death, dignity, and personal choice.
Described as "an intimate and gripping look into what it takes to legally die on one's own terms in the United States," Other Side delves into the systemic, familial, and emotional complexities of navigating a medical landscape while terminally ill.
The 90-minute film follows Bluestein, her husband Paul - himself a doctor - and her two adult children, as well as end-of-life counselors and caregivers. As time passes, arrangements are made with a hospice in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and a compounding pharmacy in Rutland in preparation.
Still, Bluestein delays making the decision to go ahead. Ultimately, she makes her way to Vermont, and documented unflinchingly by the filmmakers, she drinks the prescribed dose in a final act of determined will. Around her are her family and caregivers. She was 76.
Oakley and Hogan are Brooklyn, N.Y.-based documentarians who develop shorts and features focused on the end-of-life.
Hogan is a certified death doula and educator. She also works as a life and death coach and meditation teacher, and she is certified in Integrative Thanatology.
Oakley is a multi-media filmmaker and runs the production company Redins.
Tickets for the screening are $15 and are available at the door or online at bit.ly/833-other-side. The screening is co-sponsored by Patient Choices Vermont (patientchoices.org) a nonprofit dedicated to providing education and outreach around Medical Aid in Dying and end-of-life choice, and the Brattleboro-based organization The Comfort Project (thecomfortproject.org).
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.