I’m currently working on a short film for Animate Projects, supported by Arts Council England. The project is part of a programme entitled MORTAL - the goal of which is to produce work that reflects on how death and dying can be rethought. I have chosen to focus on the role of the Death Cafe in such a conversation, and would like to explore how people such as yourselves engage with them. Whether you are an organiser or a participant, I am keen to understand how Death Cafes have influenced your relationship to death and dying. 

Having now visited a few cafes myself, I’m struck by the wonderful openness of participants and the variety of reasons they attend. To ensure the film speaks to a range of experiences, I’d like to extend an invitation to take part in an informal 1 to 1 interview.

If you would like to share your experience of Death Cafes with me, I would love to hear what you have to say. This can take the form of a phone call or online meeting according to preference and availability, and can be however brief you wish. I have a few questions prepared, but it will be an informal discussion.

I would appreciate your permission to record the audio of our chat for potential inclusion in the film, however if you are not comfortable with this, your input will be valuable nonetheless!

The film will be approximately 3 minutes long and the visuals will be entirely animated. Any clips of our conversation will therefore be brief and your likeness will not feature in the film. Your identity will be protected unless you wish to share your name for inclusion in the credits.

There is scheduled to be an online public sharing event in May, as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week, with the films exhibited online shortly after.

You can read more about the project here: https://animateprojects.org/portfolio/mortal/ 

If you would like to have a chat, please get in touch via my profile. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Eilidh