Asheville screening of "The Last Ecstatic Days" documentary

Everyone is invited to attend this Asheville showing of the story behind the creation of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying, part of the local AARP film discussion series, "Dancing with Death: The Last Great Adventure." "The Last Ecstatic Days" premiered last month on the U.S. festival circuit as part of the Santa Fe Film Festival.

Moderated discussion to follow with CCLD Director of Education Hannah Fowler and home funeral guide Michele Skeele of the Carolina Mountain Sanctuary, a green cemetery providing natural burial.

“The Last Ecstatic Days” is a film about a young man with brain cancer in search of community, and the hospice doctor who gives up everything to honor his dying wish.

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 without fear.

To honor his final wish of filming his death, his doctor, CCLD Executive Director 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.

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About the film series: While death is often a taboo topic of conversation, it is inevitable for all of us. A series of award-winning films dealing with end-of-life issues will be shown at Pack Memorial Library on Fridays through December 8 from 2 - 5 p.m. The program is designed to help people better understand and become more comfortable talking about — and perhaps shifting their perspective on end-of-life experiences.

Each film will be followed by in-depth, thought-provoking, and death-positive discussions moderated by Gail Harris, National Emmy Award-winning journalist for PBS and NPR and former correspondent for ABC News Nightline and World News Tonight. These six exceptional films by new and established filmmakers, animators, and actors about death and dying are entertaining and inspiring. Potential discussion topics will include legacy, the spiritual side of death, alternative ways to die, preparedness, facing fear, and finding courage.