LIFE AFTER is a gripping investigative documentary that exposes the tangled web of moral dilemmas and profit motives surrounding assisted dying. Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport uncovers shocking abuses of power while amplifying the voices of the disability community fighting for justice and dignity in an unfolding matter of life and death.
Director: Reid Davenport
Producer: Colleen Cassingham
Executive Producers: Jess Devaney, Anya Rous
Executive Producers: Ruth Ann Harnisch, Dawn Bonder, Daniel J. Chalfen, Marci Wiseman, James Costa, Carrie Lozano, Lois Voissen
Colorist: Esmé Rogers Smith
Supervising Sound Editor / Re-Recording Mixer: Filipe Messeder
Archival Producer: Brydie O’Connor
Consulting Editor: David Teague
The New York Times Critic’s Pick
“LIFE AFTER doesn’t equivocate; neither does it offer easy answers. It tackles a thorny topic in a challenging way, with the tenderness, complexity and…the personal perspective it deserves.”
Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times
“Passionate and persuasive”
“An engrossing, moving – and most importantly – confrontational movie”
“(Davenport’s) fresh perspective on good intentions, silenced voices and ethical dilemmas makes a valuable contribution to debates around legalising assisted dying, and should readily secure future exposure on documentary channels and streamers.”
LIFE AFTER is a gripping investigative documentary that exposes the tangled web of moral dilemmas and profit motives surrounding assisted dying. Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport uncovers shocking abuses of power while amplifying the voices of the disability community fighting for justice and dignity in an unfolding matter of life and death.
In 1983, a disabled Californian woman named Elizabeth Bouvia sought the “right to die,” igniting a national debate about autonomy and the value of disabled lives. After years of courtroom battles, Bouvia vanished from public view. Sundance-winner Davenport embarks on a personal investigation to find out what really happened to Bouvia and reveal why her story is disturbingly relevant today.
LIFE AFTER brings together the missing voices of the disability community in the ongoing debate about assisted dying, uncovering chilling stories of disabled people dying prematurely. Davenport exposes the intersection of systemic failures and personal autonomy, challenging the idea that assisted dying always represents a free choice, when it can sometimes be seen as the only option.
Reid makes documentaries about disability from an overtly political perspective. His first feature film, I DIDN’T SEE YOU THERE, won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the McBaine Bay Area Documentary Award at San Francisco IFF. It had a national broadcast on POV in 2023. The film has been hailed by critics as “first-person poetry in captivating motion, expressed with a singular, assured artistic voice” and a “must-see.” In 2020, Reid was named to DOC NYC’s “40 Filmmakers Under 40.” His short film, A CEREBRAL GAME, won the Artistic Vision Award at the 2016 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival for “creating a visual landscape that is at once disorienting and nostalgic – and the result is so raw and compelling it’s impossible to turn away.”
Along with A CEREBRAL GAME, his short documentaries WHEELCHAIR DIARIES and RAMPED UP are distributed by New Day Films. Reid was a 2017 TED fellow and gave a TED Talk about incorporating his own literal body into his filmmaking. His work has been featured by outlets like NPR, PBS, The Washington Post, MSNBC, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Reid holds an MFA in Documentary Film & Video from Stanford University and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from The George Washington University.
Sundance Film Festival 2025 Winner U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award
International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards Nominee for Best Feature Documentary, Best Director for Reid Davenport, Best Production for Colleen Cassingham.
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