Good Grief?

Con Traje y Sin Zapatos

No synopsis available.

Benjamin

2024

On July 25, 1985, Antonin's little brother Benjamin was born. He died three days later. His mother and him never saw him. No ritual, no support. How to mourn someone who barely existed?

The Place of Chimeras

An elegy about ‘José Ð Almeida’s life and work. Along an intimate metamorphosis, this dreamlike and visually expressive world created by the visionary and insane dreamer is recreated and performed between a symbiosis of moving image, photography and painting- in a scenic, dramatic, symbolic and mystical tone.

Lamentation

2023

A symbolic and personal representation of the filmmaker's journey with grief, after losing their father in 2015. He owned a pair of gold Crocs which he wore everywhere, from lounging around at home to going to the shops. These shoes have been with the filmmaker's family throughout their childhood and have great sentimental value. Now these Crocs belong to the filmmaker's family and everybody who visits wears them. They have become a staple of their home where they will continue to see many more years of their family's life events.

Luto

2024 · ★ 6.5

Damian, grieving his girlfriend's death, travels through Mexico seeking solace. Along the way, he connects with strangers and witnesses their coping rituals, finding a path through his own memories and regrets.

Boy Interrupted

2009 · ★ 7.4

On the night of Oct. 2, 2005, Hart and Dana Perry's 15-year-old son Evan jumped to his death from his New York City bedroom window. This moving film is the story, told by his filmmaker parents and others who knew him, of Evan’s life and death, and his life-long struggle with bipolar disorder. It delves into the complexity of Evan's disease, sharing his family's journey through the maze of mental illness. In showing how one family deals with generations of loss and grief, the film defies the stigma related to mental illness and suicide and tells a human story that touches everyone.

back home

2022

In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her older brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search for a specialized medical treatment leads her to the door of someone who was once exceptionally close to Josh. And so it is that she finally has the chance to truly know her brother through his chosen family. Captured over five years in which synchronicities continually manifested, Platzer’s documentation of these encounters gently asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.

Reminiscence: A Life Through the Lens

2024 · ★ 10

A visual essay on the stimuli that draw a bridge to past memories of my life; a real documentary about where I was and where I am, what I did and what I do; a reflection of the person I was and continue to be.

Leila and the Cigarette

In early September 2011, Leah decided to go to Lebanon to film her grandmother. Two weeks after the end of filming, her grandmother died of metastatic lung cancer. It would take her 12 years to regain the courage to review their last conversations. Through memories and poems she draws the portrait of her grandmother paying homage to her colorful spirit that made her unique.

Past Projection

2025

Kurnia, a 37-year-old woman, returns to face her past memories through projected images that bring both emotion and sorrow. On this journey, she recounts the stories of love, acceptance, separation, and regret that shaped who she is today. Remininsing her memories, Kurnia slowly finds the strength to let go of her attachment to the past and attain a sense of acceptance.

Your Chance to Live: Psychological Response

1973

The film discusses the emotional aftermath of disasters, emphasizing the importance of expressing feelings and seeking help. It highlights personal experiences of individuals affected by hurricanes and earthquakes, focusing on their feelings of guilt, anxiety, and the need for support. The discussion underscores that sharing experiences can alleviate emotional pain and that professional help should be sought for those struggling to cope with trauma.

Beautiful Something Left Behind

2020 · ★ 9

In New Jersey, the Good Grief community focuses on a holistic way of dealing with grief, where children can give in to rage in ‘the volcano room,' and say goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in ‘the hospital room.' Over the course of a year, we follow the weekly meetings and get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan, and Mikayla and their close companion: grief. It is sometimes heartbreaking, but also humorous, to experience the questions about life and death through their open and curious minds. Grief is high and heavy as a mountain, but it helps you understand what has happened, and that death is irreversible.