The reaper comes for all: Docutah to screen acclaimed documentary exploring death

Film still from "Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death" by Helen Whitney | Image courtesy of Docutah, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — We don’t know how. We don’t know when. But death comes for us all. Those who have come close are changed forever.

“Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death” promotional image | Image courtesy of Docutah, St. George News

Dixie State University’s Docutah will be screening a film that tackles some of the oft-taboo issues surrounding the inevitability of death.

The critically acclaimed film “Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death” will be shown Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. on the main stage of the Dolores Dore Eccles Fine Arts Center on the DSU campus. Tickets are $10, and students with ID are admitted free.

The film is produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney, who will also be hosting the Nov. 9 event, and narrated by Oscar-nominated actress Sharon Stone.

The two-hour documentary features fascinating, unexpected voices from various walks of life: old and young, believers and nonbelievers, the dying and the healthy, well-known and obscure.

“Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death” trailer. Article continues below.

“Death is the one experience that comes to us all. It is the roar underneath everything. Yet very few of us are comfortable talking about it, even thinking about it,” Whitney said in a press release issued by Docutah. “With ‘Into the Night,’ I wanted to explore my own feelings about death and ask the questions that preoccupy each one of us — especially at 3 am.  There is great solace —and less fear – in confronting these questions together. We feel less alone.”

Helen Whitney, director of “Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death,” date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of Docutah, St. George News

Whitney is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning director, writer and producer with a prolific career creating documentaries and feature films. Her subject matter has included topics about youth gangs, presidential candidates, the McCarthy era, mental illness, Pope John Paul II, Great Britain’s class structure, homosexuality and Mormonism.

“We are honored to have Helen back at DOCUTAH. She is a towering talent in the documentary field and participated in the first DOCUTAH,” Phil Tuckett, professor of digital film at DSU and executive director of the Docutah International Documentary Film Festival, said in the press release.

“This film helps us address a subject, often taboo, with dignity and a surprisingly upbeat look at life,” Tuckett said. “It shows us how to get through some of the toughest times with hope and even a joyous outlook on how to live our lives in the face of our mortality.”

Event details

  • What: Docutah presents “Into the Night: Portraits of Life and Death” by Helen Whitney.
  • When: Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m.
  • Where: Main stage of the Dolores Dore Eccles Fine Arts Center on the campus of Dixie State University, 225 S. 700 East, St. George.
  • Cost: Tickets are $10 cash paid at the door and free for students with ID. Reservations are required and can be made at the Docutah website.

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1 Comment

  • tazzman November 2, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    Don’t fear the reaper. What this article needs is more cowbell.

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