Film explores emotional world of assisted suicide

George Le masurier

of the Gateway

NOT SURE which films you want to see at this weekend’s Gig Harbor Film Festival at the Galaxy Theatres? How about the nine-minute short film about the agony and ecstasy of women waiting in line for the ladies room?

No? Then maybe the 93-minute feature that chronicles the New Jersey Nets’ first senior citizens hip-hop dance team? Or perhaps the film titled “Beyond the Call,” which is billed as Indiana Jones meets Mother Teresa?

Still not sure? You have to see “Spooner,” the story of a used car salesmen who is still living at home with his parents when he meets the girl of his dreams. Herman Spooner is played by Matthew Lillard, son of Paula Lillard of Gig Harbor, who is one of the Film Festival founders.

Obviously, the second year of the Gig Harbor Film Festival has something for everyone.

The film likely to generate the most controversy, however, tackles the serious subject of assisted suicide. It’s also topical after Washington voters approved Initiative 1000 last fall, making our state the second in the nation that gives the terminally ill the option of medically assisted suicide.

The film is called “The Suicide Tourist,” directed by Canadian John Zaritsky, who tells two interwoven stories about people who travel to Switzerland to end their lives. Switzerland is the only place in the world where people from another country can be helped to die.

The first story is about an American who lives in England, 59-year-old Craig Ewert, who is terminally ill. The film follows his last four days of life as he travels to Zurich and into the care of Dignitas, a non-profit Swiss organization that has been called a travel agency to the afterlife.

Founded in 1998 by a Swiss lawyer, Dignitas has more than 6,000 members, and by last March, it had helped 840 people die, most of them Germans. It takes care of all the paperwork, the necessary doctor examinations, cremation and the shipping of ashes home to the family.

Most of Dignitas’ members don’t plan to die, but they want the option if their illness becomes intolerable. Only 30 percent of those approved actually follow through with medically assisted suicide.

It’s both inspiring and eerie to hear Ewert talk about recognizing the inevitably of his death and choose to end his life with dignity. While we all will face our own mortality some day, watching Ewert and his wife, Mary, go about it with such calm resolve stirs all kinds of emotions for viewers.

The second story is about a couple from Vancouver, B.C., who ask Dignitas to honor their suicide pact. The man has a terminal heart disease, but his perfectly healthy wife wants to die with him.

Zaritsky said Gig Harbor will be only the third state in the country to show his film, despite having been screened in more than 20 countries worldwide. He believes assisted suicide is as difficult an issue for Americans as abortion.

“It inflames the same passions,” he said.

Interestingly, “The Suicide Tourist” has been shown in Arizona (John McCain’s home state) and is scheduled for a showing in Alaska (Sarah Palin’s home state).

Zaritsky, who will attend the showing at 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the Galaxy Theatres, said he’s now at work on a musical comedy about dying, titled “Leave Them Laughing,” a documentary about 46-year-old singer-dancer Carla Zilbersmith who is afflicted with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“It’s my first funny film about dying,” Zaritsky said.