Scott Kirschenbaum

Prerana Thakurdesai

Hannah Fowler

Alex Harvey

David Seidler

Gail Harris

Jessica Zitter

Tommy Pallotta

Ethan Sisser

Aditi Sethi

Landon Maloney

Lisa Deluc

Linda Rothman

Greg Lathrop

Brent Skidmore

Ethan Sisser, a young man with terminal brain cancer, sits alone in his hospital room. When he starts livestreaming his death journey on social media, thousands of people around the world join to celebrate his courage. Still, Ethan envisions more – to teach the world how to die without fear. To do that, he needs to film his death. Honoring Ethan's wish, his doctor Aditi Sethi transports him to an idyllic house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. What unfolds next is a story rarely glimpsed: how a community of strangers helps a young man die with grace. A sensory immersion into leaving the body, “The Last Ecstatic Days” reveals a man who will not let us forget him – even after he’s taken his final breath. To support the film's impact campaign, please visit: https://givebutter.com/thelastecstaticdays

The Last Ecstatic Days Movie

Ethan Sisser, a young man with terminal brain cancer, sits alone in his hospital room.  When he starts livestreaming his death journey on social media, thousands of people around the world join to celebrate his courage. Still, Ethan envisions more – to teach the world how to die without fear.  To do that, he needs to film his death.

Honoring Ethan's wish, his doctor Aditi Sethi transports him to an idyllic house in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. What unfolds next is a story rarely glimpsed: how a community of strangers helps a young man die with grace.

A sensory immersion into leaving the body, “The Last Ecstatic Days” reveals a man who will not let us forget him – even after he’s taken his final breath.

To support the film's impact campaign, please visit: https://givebutter.com/thelastecstaticdays

Sante Fe International Film Festival

GlobeDocs

Turkey Grief & Death Festival

Congressional Cemetary

“…courageous end-of-life chronicle, which overflows with compassion and shows us how to live mindfully while embracing curiosity about what lies beyond.”

Natalia Winkelman

“This film blew me away. You just can't help but love Ethan the moment he opens his TikTok and invites you into his life. Ethan became a teacher for me. I hope everyone will see this extraordinary film."

Roshi Joan Halifax

“As no other film, The Last Ecstatic Days shows us a more noble way of dying.”

Leonard Pickard

"The Last Ecstatic Days explores the beauty of vulnerability and how we want to leave the world when we die."

Smita Nair

The Last Ecstatic Days

As many of you know, I am a Reiki Master and the founder of Reiki Training Institute.  I have been offering Reiki for over 25 years. I am also a certified hypnotherapist and RTT therapist. Sessions are adapted to suit my client's needs, and I often blend my skills to offer unique support. For more information, you are welcome to look at my website: 

. Sessions are available in Redondo Beach, Culver City, and online.  

What some of you don't know is my involvement and interest in education regarding death and dying. In 1997, I volunteered at an Aids Hospice offering Reiki to end-of-life patients. The profound sacredness of death struck me, and I was deeply moved by the patients I met there. I went on to take the VA Hospitals Twilight Brigade Training and became a hospice volunteer there in 2012.  The more time I spent with people close to death and dying, the more I wanted to learn, not only for myself but to be able to support others. I became a certified Death Doula and Death Midwife with Olivia Bareham at the Sacred Crossings Institute in 2013. To this day, I continue attending events and gatherings in the death and dying education community. Let's face it: we are all going to die, so why not talk about it? I am inviting you to watch this movie. It may alleviate some of the fear most of us carry in this death-phobic culture. 



I always feel deeply honored to be with someone in their last days, and I am so happy that this documentary was made and is available for us all to share.  

Thank you, Ethan Sisser, for your courage, wisdom, and grace.

thea nathan

The Connecticut Death Collective was created at the beginning of 2022 to establish community and conversation around death and dying in our home state. We began hosting virtual Death Cafes in February 2022 and the following June we hosted our first potluck for death workers.

 Our goal is to increase awareness of accessible and eco-friendly funeral options not commonly known to the public. To that end, we work to educate and empower those looking to take back control of their own dying process and those of their loved ones.

Panelists this evening are Kate Bagnati, Events Coordinator of CTDC, Jackie Genovese, Founder CTDC, and Lisa Sarfaty, End of Life Doula and Thanatologist.

We look forward to sharing this remarkable film and to your voice and participation in the discussion afterwards!

CT Death Collective

Join us on Saturday, May 18 at 7 pm to watch the inspiring film, 

In the comfort of your own home, you will log on with the link provided in your email from the purchase of your ticket and watch the film on your own TV or laptop. After the viewing is complete, stay on for a discussion with Tonya and Courtney.

is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Fulfilled Consulting LLC, as well as an End-of-Life Doula along with her husband Floyd. She is a paralegal in Smith Anderson’s Corporate practice; her areas of focus include Mergers and Acquisitions as well as Public Companies. She resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is a West Virginia native. 

Currently, she serves as a Board Member of CCLD, previously Secretary and Treasurer for CCLD, as well as past Treasurer and Board Member for the National End of Life Doula Alliance. Tonya has over a decade of experience in end-of-life care, and holds a certification in Thanatology and Master’s Degree from Marshall University. 

Tonya is very passionate about the death positive movement in our society. Her core values are: to educate, honor, and advocate for options and choice for ALL humans at the end-of-life, widen our cultural narratives around death, seek to honor sacred traditions, remove stigmas around death, empower connection and collective grieving, and create a safe space for BIPOC communities, and support through legacy planning.

started her career as a music therapist in the realms of both birth and death. These early experiences, along with her work as a Certified Nurse Assistant, Hospice volunteer and trained death doula as well as a 20+ career in social services has imprinted upon her the sacredness of the entire life cycle and the importance of community. Courtney is supported by her lifelong practices of meditation, Kundalini yoga, shamanic studies and ancestry work. She currently facilitates and supports the emergence of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying through strategic planning, organizational development.

Center For Conscious Living & Dying

"The Last Ecstatic Days" + Post-Screening Discussion with Tonya Fortune Smith and Courtney Smith

Ethan was a devout yogi who was still live-streaming his practice, even while he was in the hospital.  He continues to be our inspiration and our teacher, in yoga and beyond. 

The film will begin rolling promptly at 7PM, so plan to arrive early! The screening event "opens" at 6:30. 

In the comfort of your own home, you will log on with the link provided in your email from the purchase of your ticket and watch the film on your own TV or laptop. After the viewing is complete, we will transition to Zoom for a discussion with Sheri Kay. Zoom link will be provided during your Kinema screening. 

volunteers as Director of Resident and Volunteer Services at Center for Conscious Living and Dying. She is an organizational coach, facilitator, end-of-life-guide, and yoga teacher. She has positively impacted hundreds of businesses across the country through heart-centered communication practices and values-based systems. Sheri has been an ambassador for this film since it's early development, and is excited to share it with you!

The Last Ecstatic Days Movie: Join Yoga Teacher and End-of-Life Doula Sheri Kay for a Special Yoga-Focused Screening + Discussion Event

Join us on Thursday May 23 at 7 pm to watch the inspiring film, The Last Ecstatic Days.


In the comfort of your own home, you will log on with the link provided in your email from the purchase of your ticket and watch the film on your own TV or laptop. After the viewing is complete, stay on for a discussion with Michael and Wendy.

 has been active in the arena of holistic health for over 4 decades. With a Masters Degree from Tulane University in Public Health Administration, he early on made a pivot from the conventional model of health care delivery, to advocating for a more conscious, whole-person approach to health and wellness. He founded, along with his wife, the Macrobiotic Center of Louisiana in the mid 1980’s; Nova Institute, an international school and retreat for the healing arts, in Estes park in the 1990’s; and, for the past 30+ years, the Pilates Center of Austin, which has, just this past year, been handed over to their amazing staff to steward for the next 25 years. Michael is also an avid woodworker, sculptor, and toymaker, artist and designer, life coach and mentor.

“It has been my privilege to be a founding Board member, and an ardent supporter of the CCLD and this deeply moving film, re-imagining a new narrative, one that vibrantly embraces the intertwined journey of life and death, and seeks to create an upswell of community-minded, heart-centered support, engagement and stewardship.”

 is an international leader in embodied/somatic movement, Wendy is more passionate than ever, as she enters the 5th decade of her life's work with holistic health, yoga, pilates, and the somatic arts and sciences. She began this journey, in the early 1980's, as a Macrobiotic Teacher, going on to co-founding, along with her husband, Michael, the Nova Institute, an international holistic school and retreat center in Estes Park, CO. In the mid-1990's, she co-founded, with her husband, the Pilates Center of Austin, a yoga, Pilates and somatic movement center, now in its 31st year, and still going strong. She continues to coach clients and mentor teachers nationally and internationally.

Handspring Publishing will be debuting her new book, "Moving Beyond Core: A Somatic Explorer's Guide through Whole Body Relationships", in the Spring of 2025.

“I am privileged to be a supporter of TLED, and the CCLD. I am so inspired by this film's message,and the CCLD's mission to create a vibrant community committed to deep-hearted inner exploration and growth, service and community-supported end-of-life care.”

"The Last Ecstatic Days" + Post-screening Discussion with Michael Arbuckle and Wendy LeBlanc-Arbuckle

When death is a part of life: in honor to all our hospice patients

Carine Deluc

Please join us at 6.45pm ET for an introduction to the film and stay on after the film for a post-screening discussion with Robert Haden, Aditi Sethi & Scott Kirschenbaum. 

The Last Ecstatic Days Movie LLC

Watch "The Last Ecstatic Days" with Robert Haden, Aditi Sethi & Scott Kirschenbaum

Join us for a thought-provoking virtual screening hosted by 

, an organization dedicated to exploring and understanding life through the profound journey of death. This special event aligns deeply with our values of transforming perceptions of death from an ultimate failure to a meaningful passage.

In our commitment to doing death differently, we will present a film that encapsulates our mission at the 

. The film offers a compassionate exploration of end-of-life experiences and how these can be viewed as a sacred and enriching part of our existence.

This event is more than just a movie screening; it is an invitation to open a dialogue about life, death, and the sacred transitions. Following the film, we will hold a guided discussion where participants can share insights, ask questions, and connect with others drawn to meaningful conversations about end-of-life care.

Whether you are a healthcare professional, someone exploring the profound aspects of life and death, or simply curious about how sacred mushroom ceremonies can influence our passage, this event will provide a unique
opportunity to engage with like-minded individuals and deepen your exploration of life's final frontier.

Join us as we delve into the delicate interplay between life and death, and discover how embracing this natural cycle can illuminate our paths and enrich our lives.

Jason Eftink

Please join Deb Turnow and Nicole Mills for a post-screening conversation of "The Last Ecstatic Days."