When Someone Dies: Understanding Grief

Nothing is more overwhelming than suddenly facing the reality of death. Losing a family member, friend, or school acquaintance can be devastating, and many adolescents resist the idea that grief is normal or necessary.

The producer worked with Friends In Deed, a New York organization for grief and loss counseling that the page describes as the city’s appointed grieving organization for 9/11. Director Eric Marciano used that work to identify parts of the grieving process, teenagers who could speak about their loss, and experts willing to explain it.

The film is described as emotionally compelling without being melodramatic or sentimental. It argues that grief can be overwhelming and should not be ignored or trivialized, and that it can still be managed.

Interviews include grieving expert Earl Grollman (Straight Talk About Death and Bereavement), Robert Ludwig of the Children’s Grief Center at Long Island College in Brooklyn, social worker Andrea Freshman, and students from Edward R. Murrow High School.

I was born into a world with a sister and I don’t understand a world without one.