Project Detail

Searching For Meaning

Synopsis

The documentary was made in the wake of the director's own loss of his mother, who in her last days of life received very poor palliative care by the hospital.
The film is aimed to raise awareness around palliative care and end of life care, and covers interviews from a number of UK leading experts in palliative care. The film also takes great care not to leave out the story of those directly in receipt of palliative care. Unlike others films on this subject, the director's primary narrative aim is not to have a film about dying but instead have a film that looks at how to live life to the best until those final days.
SEARCHING FOR MEANING is a collage of education and thoughtfully blended aspects from what is a heartfelt story of a lady who even in the face of death, continues to demonstrate incredible courage by living life to the max. The director is also himself in receipt of palliative care and it's that emotional connection with the subject matter which is truly apparent in this film.

Details

Year
2019
Type of project
Features
Running time
83 mins
Format
Filmed in 4k. Downscaled to 1080p
Director
Jean-Francois Rodrigues
Producer
Jean-Francois Rodrigues
Executive Producer
Louie Silkoff, Christian Shulz-Quach
Editor
Jean-Francois Rodrigues
Screenwriter
Malachi Howe and JF Rodrigues
Director of Photography
Jean-Francois Rodrigues
Sound
Kieran Simpson and Peter Milker
Composer
Artlist
Principal cast
Laura Bashford, Peter Bashford, Charlotte Cutter
Further Notes
Give Back Documentary Productions is a nonprofit organisation that has created this film solely for the purpose of having the importance of palliative care raised in the consciousness of the viewing public. The director has funded this project himself so that it can remain free for all to watch. The film is not being sold but instead is currently being screened 12 times across the UK mostly during Dying Matters week 2019.

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Give Back Documentary Productions

Jean-Francois Rodrigues

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Spacewoman Spacewoman

Director: Hannah Berryman

Year: 2024

A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle. Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all. At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere

Elegy for the Lost Elegy for the Lost

Director: William Hong-xiao Wei

Year: 2025

Through the psychoanalytic and introspective voiceover of a young post-pandemic Chinese migrant in Europe, the film interweaves her private memories of intimacy with public narratives of resistance. As her reflections unfold, she and her community navigate secrecy, repression, survival, looming precarity, and displacement, all while confronting the personal cost of existing in a world that demands their silence.

A high overhead shot of house after a wildfire Fires and Fascism

Director: Peter Knapp

Year: 2025

FIRES AND FACISM shows the wildfires in Europe are more than just from climate change and mismanagement, but link also with politics, big business, organised crime, and the far right.  The film showcases how communities are engaging in direct action, protest, rewilding, and suppressing the rise of both uncontrollable fires and fascist attitudes. The aim of the film is to unite communities in an increasingly divided society. It shows some ways to bring people together for a common cause and the positive impact this has. Featured are the experiences and actions of 25 people from Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and their actions to build community for a safer and more resilient future.