SDH Captioned
Grades 10 - 12, College, Adults
Directed by Melanie Chait
Produced by Melanie Chait
DVD Purchase $395, Rent $95
US Release Date: 2023
Copyright Date: 2021
DVD ISBN: 1-961192-06-3
Subjects
Activism
African Studies
Biography
Dance
Death And Dying
Environment
Gender Studies
Health
Philosophy
Pollution
Psychology
Social Psychology
Sociology
Toxic Chemicals
Women's Studies
Awards and Festivals
Best of Fest & Best Documentary, Cinema Systers Film Festival
Best Feature Documentary, Toronto International Women Film Festival
Best Editing, Women in Film Festival, Zurich
Encounters South African International Documentary Festival
East Lansing Film Festival
African Women Arts & Film Festival
Set against the backdrop of Rachel Carson's The Silent Spring, the film documents the last 4 years of the filmmaker's life-partner, outspoken lesbian theater director, Nancy Diuguid's life, as she fought breast cancer.
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"An intimate and unflinching portrait of death and dying that is also a celebration of life, love, and gay identity." Lisa H. Sideris, Prof, Environmental Studies, UCSB |
DANCE ME TO THE END OF TIME is a deeply personal film about love in the face of death. Set against the backdrop of Rachel Carson and her seminal book, The Silent Spring, award winning filmmaker Melanie Chait documented the last four years of her life partner, London theatre director Nancy Diuguid's life, as she fought breast cancer. Carson's book exposed the health danger of pesticides as far back as 1962.
Nancy grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, where small planes regularly sprayed their farms with pesticides. DANCE ME TO THE END OF TIME powerfully explores the impact of pesticides, not only on the environment but also on the human body by journeying with Nancy as she navigates her cancer treatment and the tremendous love that is shared in doing so. It pays tribute to Nancy a visionary director and actor who used the creative arts and her own lesbian identity as a lifelong campaign for justice and healing, covering gay and women's movement issues from the 70s as well as exploring Rachel Carson's remarkable legacy.
DANCE ME TO THE END OF TIME is not an extended meditation on death, but a celebration of an energized and involved life.
Reviews
"A powerful celebration of life...A truly great film. Not only for the breadth of themes it broaches - from cancer to green activism, from lesbian love to arts therapy - but also for the intensity with which she deals with these themes."
Gibson Ncube, The Conversation
"Dance Me to the End of Time is an intimate and unflinching portrait of death and dying that is also a celebration of life, love, and gay identity. The story of Melanie Chait's devotion to her life-partner Nancy Diuguid unfolds alongside an exploration of the persistent dangers of cancer-causing poisons in our environment. Weaving Diuguid's cancer journey together with scenes from environmental pioneer Rachel Carson's personal life and cancer struggle, the film leaves us with hope that the lifework of visionaries like Diuguid and Carson will not be in vain."
Lisa H. Sideris, Professor of Environmental Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara, Co-editor, Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge
"This is a compelling, beautifully-told story that will open the door for critically important conversations on the human impact on the environment, gender, sexual orientation, death and dying, and intersections of these topics. Dance Me to the End of Time will fit well in disciplines such as environmental studies, women and gender studies, and sociology."
Deborah Altus, Professor of Family and Human Services, Washburn University
"As a public health nurse, I have always understood that our health and wellbeing is intertwined with nature and how we care for nature. This film beautifully shows, not only in narration but through exquisite visuals, a life well lived because of appreciation of that interconnectedness. Although death is at the end of the movie, the film leaves us with a sense of hope and direction for our own lives."
Adelita Cantu, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at Health San Antonio
"Nancy's journey reminds us one can devour energy, digest experience, and live fully right up to the end. Hers is a portrait of life, one where the most important thing is to discover one's most important thing. Dance Me to the End of Time exemplifies living and dying on one's terms, with eyes wide open."
Nate Hinerman, Professor and Chair of Psychology, Golden Gate University, Chair, San Francisco Bay Area Network for End-of-Life Care
"Dance Me To the End of Time is a profoundly personal tribute to found family, friendship, and the healing power of the arts and community. Melanie Chait's interweaving of Nancy Diuguid and Rachel Carson's biographies amidst beautiful footage of South Africa and histories of toxic farming in Kentucky show that for good or ill, we carry our physical environments with us."
Lauran Whitworth, Assistant Professor and Chair, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Agnes Scott College
"Highly Recommended...Nancy's actions and perspective demonstrates that despite life's hardships, you should never give up happiness and what you believe in. There is always something to fight for. This deeply intimate,