Screening Time: Saturday, May 3, 12:00 PM, Charles Theatre 3

Director: Blue Hadeagh and Grover Babcock

Cast: Ronald Tanner, Donald Wright, Tommy Albertson

Country: U.S.
Year: 2002
Running Time: 69 minutes
Format: Beta SP

What happens to people who die with no next of kin? Filmmakers Blue Hadeagh and Grover Babcock explore this mystery and lay bare the unsettling process as they follow the Los Angeles County workers who must deal with this phenomenon every day. Beginning at the moment the coroner’s investigators arrive, we watch as a variety of public employee’s handle and ultimately dispose of the most personal aspects of our shared humanity; among them photographs, money and, of course, the remains of the deceased. A Certain Kind of Death, which was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, is an unblinking cinematic journey through the elaborate mechanics of “unmaking” a human life.

The film reveals a world of unknown, gripping actions and images. The camera work is powerful and precise. Unexpected ironies and compelling imagery force us to ponder the question “What is death?” As each worker helps to piece together the life that was lost, each worker in turn helps nudge the deceased into non-existence. Crews haul away property. Appliances, furniture and personal knickknacks are sold at county auctions. This process, an everyday task for some county employees, often reveals a more vibrant life than any of the still-breathing workers. “Most of us are insulated from death, says Filmmaker Grover Babcock, “but however overwhelming it was to visit these places, it helped sharpen, my sense of life, and consider how valuable it is to be alive.”

--Erin Jakowski

Presented By: Blue Hadaegh and Grover Babcock

Blue Hadaegh was born in Iran and experienced the Islamic Revolution firsthand before leaving the country after high school. She attended the University of California, Berkeley and then received an M.F.A. from the School of Film/Video at the California Institute for the Arts. She has produced films and videos for museums and other cultural institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Grover Babcock was Series Producer for American Journey, thirteen one-hour documentary programs now airing on Discovery’s Travel Channel, and also co-directed Birdman for Discovery. He has produced several documentary projects on topics in the arts, and co-directed On Ice, a documentary about cryonics that was featured at the Sundance Film Festival and on PBS’s P.O.V.