Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die is a one-off TV documentary of 2011 produced by KEO North for BBC Scotland on assisted, directed and manufactured suicide by Charlie Russell. It is presented by Terry Pratchett and features Peter Smedley, a 71-year-old motor neurone sufferer, died of a suicide in Switzerland assisted by the dying organization Dignitas.
The film sparked a strong controversy and was criticized by Christian and pro-life organizations as "biased"; the allegations were disputed by the BBC, death-assisted death organizations, Dignity in Dying, and Terry Pratchett himself.
Video Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
Subject
The film focuses on the story of Peter Smedley, a British millionaire entrepreneur diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2008. At the beginning of the film, Pratchett meets with Smedleys to talk about death; then he visited the widow of a Belgian writer Hugo Claus who decided to commit suicide in 2008 after developing Alzheimer's disease.
Pratchett spoke with Mick Gordelier, a retired London taxi driver with motor neuron disease who has no desire to commit suicide, preferring to be treated at a nursing home. After that, the novelist visited Andrew Colgan, a 42-year-old double sclerosis sufferer; Colgan, like Peter Smedley, decides to go to Dignitas to take his life. Pratchett then traveled to Switzerland to accompany Smedleys and met Ludwig Minelli, founder of Dignitas; during the final scene of the film, he witnessed the death of Smedley who took a lethal dose of Nembutal barbiturate, which was constantly accompanied by his wife Christine and two Dignitas staff.
Maps Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
Production
The film was taken at several locations throughout England, including the manor house Terry Pratchett near Salisbury, Wiltshire. Interviews with Smedleys were filmed at their home in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey with the Swiss part shot in Zurich; The last scene took place on December 10, 2010 at Blue Oasis , a two-story Dignitas property located in the industrial estate in the east of the city.
The film's executive producers are Sam Anthony for BBC and Craig Hunter for KEO North; Charlotte Moore took on the role of commissioning editor.
Broadcast
The preview of the film was shown at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011 on June 11th. Her premium ¨re is screened as part of Panorama's documentary program on BBC Two's television channel on June 13, reaching 1.6 million viewers (6.7% of total UK audience); Newsnight's next debate on films representing supporters and assisted suicide opponents attracted 1.1 million (5.6%).
The film is believed to be the first on-screen death by euthanasia aired on terrestrial television; Earlier, in December 2008, the satellite television channel Sky Real Lives had shown a suicide aided by a retired university professor Craig Ewert, who suffered from motor neurone disease, conducted at the same Dignitas clinic.
A premium North American film of the film is held during the 2011 North American Discworld Convention which runs from July 8-11 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Reception
The film sparked a strong controversy even before the premiÃÆ'¨re, with the BBC receiving about 750 complaints before the broadcast on June 13 and several others after it aired; the next day, the total number of complaints reached 1,219 with 301 calls supporting the film. It has been criticized by Christian and pro-life organizations, including the Care Not Killing Alliance, whose spokesman, Alistair Thompson, described it as "suicide propaganda with pro help that is loosely dressed as a documentary"; His campaign director Peter Saunders stated that the film was "the use of embarrassing license payers money" and further evidence of a striking campaign stance. "Michael Nazir-Ali, former Church of England bishop, added that it" honors suicide and does indeed help to commit suicide ".
Four British colleagues: Baroness Campbell from Surbiton, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Lord Alton from Liverpool and Lord Carlile of Berriew issued a joint complaint to BBC Director General Mark Thompson and BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten of Barnes, calling the film "disgusting". "and" embarrassing ", they wrote that the BBC was running a" regulated campaign "to support assisted deaths. [citation needed] In July 2011, the Early Day Movement called on the BBC to remain impartial on assisted assistance issues supported by 15 members of the House of Representatives.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, defended a film that said the film was "very touching and sometimes hard to watch" and that "it does not try to hide the reality of a dying aid". A BBC spokesman denied allegations of bias saying that the movie "gives people a chance to make up their own minds about the matter"; The BBC's commissioner for documentary, Charlotte Moore, said: "The BBC has no convictions, but we think that this is an important debate issue". Craig Hunter, executive film producer for KEO North, called it "a valuable contribution to the increasingly urgent debate over who determines when and how we die."
Terry Pratchett, who became a presenter in the film, revealed the reason for making it, stating that he was "shocked at the current situation" and that "he knows that dying help is practiced in at least three places in Europe as well as in the United States." He defended the right to decide assisted death, saying that he believed "it should be possible for someone who is seriously ill and ultimately fatal to choose to die peacefully with medical help, rather than suffer."
On November 13, 2011, 5 months after the premiÃÆ'¨re, the film received the 2011 Scottish Academy Documentary BAFTA award for the best Scottish documentary films produced in 2011. On March 21, 2012, the film also received the 2011 Royal Society Television Society Award in the UK. category for a single documentary, described by judges as "breakthrough, revelatory and very touching." On May 27, 2012, the program received a Single Documentary award in the Arqiva British Academy Television Awards 2012. On November 20, 2012, he received the Best Documentary prize at the 40th International Emmy Awards.
References
External links
- Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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