Trailer
Director’s Statement
My father died in a car accident in New Zealand.
He was thirty-six.
I was eight.
The grief was so overpowering – it consumed me. But death is taboo. People are afraid to talk about it. Growing up, classmates and friends would carefully skirt around the subject. Even until today, my grandma is the only person with whom I can discuss openly about my father’s death and death itself.
Losing him also made me question my own mortality. There was so much he didn’t get to do and experience. He loved travelling; imagine how many more countries we could have visited together if he were still alive. Often, I worry that I may not be able to accomplish all the things I want to do before my time comes. I forget to stop and smell the roses; I forget to live in the now.
Fade to Black has given me an opportunity to explore death, loss and grief. And through interviews with each of the profiles and conversations with people I’ve met during these shoots, I am reminded that by sharing my pain, I allow myself to heal.
Series Synopsis
Death ends a life, not a relationship.
– Mitch Albom
Humans have lusted after immortality for as long as they have existed on this planet. But mortality is inescapable and death is inevitable.
Fade to Black is a documentary series of five portraits of different professionals entrusted with the last leg of a person’s journey. We meet a palliative care nurse, a vigil volunteer, a funeral director, an embalmer and a volunteer remembrance photographer, to underscore the importance of talking about death educated and with a sense of humour.
Each of these end-of-life providers shares their thoughts on existential questions regarding mortality and the afterlife. The series also touches on the typical trajectory compassion fatigue takes as these professions involve prolonged exposure to the trauma of others.
In a culture that is still uneasy talking about death, dying and bereavement, this five-part series explores mortality salience and serves as a reminder that death doesn’t end a relationship or erase a person’s existence.
No matter how long or short it is.
Teaser Poster
Director’s Bio
Joy directed the short film That’s WICKED! which premiered at the 2012 International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA), and won Best Documentary at the 2013 Singapore Short Film Awards, and has since made its way to multiple film festivals in various parts of the world.
Her favourite projects include an award-winning documentary research series titled Who Cares? with NCSS and Fuelfor Healthcare Design Consultancy focusing on caregivers who have slipped through the cracks of the system.
She directed Dementiaville, a documentary film about a dementia care resort in Chiang Mai. The documentary was aired on Discovery Channel Asia. In 2019, she produced and directed We Are All Escapists, a documentary series on 5 female ex-offenders finding their place in the fairly conservative Singaporean society.
She is also continuing her research in mental health conditions through filming documentaries to raise awareness on important social issues and causes.
