Kirsten Johnson on the Number One Question Everyone Has About 'Dick Johnson Is Dead'
79Netflix’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead” is a profound and deeply personal portrait of the director Kirsten Johnson’s examination of her father, Richard Johnson (lovingly known as “Dick”), a retired clinical psychiatrist who is suffering from dementia and his inevitable end.
Beginning as an attempt to make the impending loss of her father bearable for both him and herself, Johnson fashions nearly a dozen fake death scenarios, including falling down a flight of stairs and dropping an air conditioner from an apartment building. The 55-year-old filmmaker brings about the most enriching and beautiful questions regarding our own mortality and what we choose to do with the time given to us.
The most frequently asked question about her documentary inevitably winds up being, is Dick Johnson still alive? "How good is that," the director says noting the impact her father has had on the audience.
Variety’s “Doc Dreams” is presented by National Geographic.
http://bit.ly/VarietySubscribe