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These three short films will make you think or feel differently about death and dying. Developed through discussions with social anthropologist and academic Dr Hannah Rumble, they draw inspiration from the Death Positive Movement.

This movement seeks to improve how society handles mortality by finding new ways to explore the experience of death. With a focus on removing social barriers and upholding social justice, it draws on the legacy of the 1970s hospice movement, the 1980s AIDS epidemic, green burials, and death cafes.

Reflecting on death anxiety, communal grief, and the queering of funerary practices, these films have emerged from within this culture of death positivity.

Ignoring the terrible hum by Ben Faircloth examines attitudes surrounding mortality inspired by Ernest Becker’s renowned theory that most human action is taken to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death.

Steeping by Eilish Nicoll explores the ceremony of the death cafe and how a conversation over a cup of something might make broaching the subject a little less terrifying.

Making it fit by Mariana Leal is a short documentary about how the LGBTQIA+ community has reinvented remembrance rituals to better reflect the way people live and love within this community.

Click here to watch the films here and leave your feedback.

Dr Hannah Rumble is an academic and social anthropologist specialising in the study of death, dying, and disposal across human and non-human contexts. Her research encompasses topics such as funeral poverty and the natural burial movement, often resulting in films and art installations co-produced with community partners. She currently holds positions as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Bath and an Associate at Durham University.