EXIT, le droit de mourir

EXIT, The Right To Die
EXIT, das Recht zu sterben
EXIT, il diritto di morire

Switzerland, April 2005
FILM, Documentary, 76 min.

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directed by
Fernand Melgar
Written by
Fernand Melgar
Status
In distribution
Website
www.climage.ch

No one knows the day or the hour. When illness strikes, accompanied by pain and physical decline, there we are, faced with death. The outlook on what remains of life appears dismal and full of anguish. How to spare oneself, and one’s closest family, slow agony? Switzerland is the only country in the world where associations, such as EXIT, quite legally provide suicide assistance to people at the end of their lives. For over twenty years volunteers have accompanied sick and handicapped people towards a death of their choice that seems more dignified to them. In this documentary, these escorts and the people they accompany tackle death head-on. Not like a taboo or an unacceptable end, but like a release. With their words and gestures, their convictions and their doubts, they talk about the path they have travelled. In a society tending to control everything, they refer us back to this quintessential, intimate question: Is choosing our death not our ultimate freedom?

credits

World Premiere
April 2005
Original Version
French,  colour, Digi Beta, 76 min.
Production
Les Productions JMH, Association Climage, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera
Producer
Florence Adam, Jean-Marc Henchoz, Fernand Melgar
directed by
Fernand Melgar
Written by
Fernand Melgar
Cinemato­graphy
Camille Cottagnoud, Steff Bossert
Editing
Karine Sudan
Location Sound Mix
Blaise Gabioud

World Sales / World Rights

World Sales
Doc & Co

Worldwide Distribution

Switzerland
JMH Distributions SA Distribution
Release date: tba

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