On Saturday, April 20, 2024, SAJA hosted a virtual screening of "The Last Ecstatic Days," a powerful documentary about a young man's last days and the doctor and community who helped bring grace and love at his end of his journey.  After the movie, shown on the Kinema platform, Prerana Thakurdesai, former SAJA president and one of the film's producers, joined  Dr. Aditi Sethi, one of the film's protagonists in a conversation with current SAJA president Sree Sreenivasan. They discussed how the film was made and responded to questions and comments from a worldwide audience (from Mumbai and Kochi in India to UK and Sweden and across the US).

They also noted the passing of one of the film's champions and executive producers David Sweidler, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "The King's Speech," who died just a month earlier. His testimonial about the film: "After 10 minutes, I was ready to walk over glass to help this film."

You don't have walk over broken glass to help the film. Learn more about it here: thelastecstaticdaysmovie.com and lern about its impact campaign: https://givebutter.com/thelastecstaticdays

And to support Dr. Sethi's efforts to change the way we think about the end of (our) days, please check out and support her Center for Conscious Living & Dying: https://www.ccld.community.

Here are some of the real-time comments we received!

Zainab Sultan in NJ:  ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Congrats everyone for bringing this beautiful film to us!

Norman Chaleff in Kristianstad, Sweden: May Ethan's bravery in facing death inspire millions to face life!

Alystyre Julian: Life and conscious death changing impact. Utterly transcendent. Thank you for making this film. I was so happy to learn about the center in Asheville, after experiencing the film. Thank you Prerana for sharing this with me. Aditi, all hearts!

Zach Moore in NYC: A beautiful film with so much grace. The rabbi's comment about "if we knew the words we'd all know them by now" really stuck with me, and just seeing everyone there for Ethan really showed it's so much more than words. Thank you for sharing this!

HOW YOU CAN HELP SAJA:

• Support us through events around the US and Canada. Have a venue we can use pro bono or subsidized? Have ideas for events? Want to join our 30th anniversary planning committee for the October conference and gala in NYC? Let us know. president@saja.org

• If you're not yet a member: http://saja.org/membership (you don't have to be a journalist or South Asian to become a member)

• Support us by making a tax-deductible donation: http://saja.org/donate

• • We have donated more than $400,000 in scholarships and fellowships — all thanks to folks like you!