“What does the word ‘grief’ mean?” MTV Studios has revealed the official trailer for a documentary titled Beautiful Something Left Behind, an acclaimed film that premiered at a few documentary film festivals last year. It’s wonderful. At Good Grief groups, children meet to understand the passing of a parent or a sibling through play, giving in to rage in ‘the volcano room’ and saying goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in ‘the hospital room’. Over the course of a year, we follow the weekly meetings and get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan and Mikayla and their close companion: grief. The film shows us how humor goes hand-in-hand with heartbreak, and how hard it is to cope and deal with death. But also how support and openness make a big difference. “Life-affirming and profound, Beautiful Something Left Behind beautifully captures the heartbreaking, mundane and even the funny moments in the lives of several young children who have recently lost one or both parents.” I saw this last year and it left me stunned. What a fantastic film.
Official trailer (+ poster) for Katrine Philp’s doc Beautiful Something Left Behind, from YouTube:
The Good Grief community in New Jersey focuses on a holistic approach to mourning, where children can give in to rage in ‘the volcano room’ or say goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in ‘the hospital room.’ Over the course of a year, we get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan and Mikayla along with their constant companion: grief, as they attend their weekly group meetings at Good Grief, practice small rituals to remember their loved ones, and go about the daily work of living. Filmmaker Katrine Philp keeps the camera and the point-of-view firmly on the children and while it is sometimes deeply sad, it’s also at times humorous to experience questions about life and death through their open and curious minds. Beautiful Something Left Behind is directed by award-winning Danish documentary filmmaker Katrine Philp, director of the doc films Dance For Me, Suitable, and False Confessions previously. This premiered last year at the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, and it played at SXSW & DOC NYC. MTV will debut Philp’s Beautiful Something Left Behind in “virtual cinemas” starting January 8th. I highly recommend this doc.
