Choosing to enter the darkness - a researcher’s reflection on working with suicide survivors: A collage of words and images

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is important to find constructive avenues for breaking the silence and taboo around suicide on both a personal and societal level. This collage of words and images is an iteration based on the extensive research that resulted in the award winning documentary film, The Hidden Face of Suicide. The film enters the world of survivors, those who lost family to suicide, and tells their remarkable stories through the use of mask making and interviews. The survivors expressed that the process of creating masks, telling their stories, and witnessing the positive audience response, gave them a sense of meaning and hope and decreased their feelings of being isolated and stigmatized. After screening the film to diverse audiences internationally, and upon further reflection on the making of the film and the audience responses, the author expresses the findings in another creative medium adding another layer to the tapestry of this process.