‘Defining Hope’: Film Review, Hollywood Reporter
WNET MetroFocus interview with Carolyn Jones and hospice nurse, Diane Ryan.
“I started off thinking we had kind of a social responsibility as members of society to know when our card is up, to know when it was time to stop the next treatment or the next procedure. And I discovered over and over that that moment doesn’t come, the will to live is an amazing. So I started to realize we have to respect each and every person’s choice along the way.”
“The end of life is very much a part of life, yet sometimes those conversations and decisions are the toughest to make, or even talk about.”
“What’s on TV”, The New York Times
“Carolyn Jones, whose 2014 documentary “The American Nurse” focused primarily on health care workers, this time turns her gaze toward patients, covering eight stories of people with life-threatening illnesses.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Hosts Congressional Briefing to Address Nationwide Nursing Shortage
“Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02), co-chair of the Congressional Nursing Caucus, today hosted a briefing focused on the severe shortage of nurses in Hawai‘i and across the country. The event featured a panel discussion with nursing leaders and fellow lawmakers, along with a film screening of Defining Hope, a documentary that follows patients with life-threatening illness as they make choices about how they want to live, how much medical technology they can accept, what they hope for and how that hope evolves when life is threatened.”
10 Movies about the End-of-Life Experience, Medium
“The film serves as a powerful reminder that ending well looks different for everyone and that we are empowered to make choices that align with our wishes.”
Defining Hope: An uplifting look at end-of-life – Covering Health, Association of Health Care Journalists
“You wouldn’t necessarily expect a documentary about end-of-life issues to be uplifting. But at the premiere of a new film about the topic, the audience smiled and laughed. At other times, they fought back tears. Many mentioned a resolve to start talking about their wishes and goals.”
Defining Hope wins Best Premiere – Documentary Feature at the Heartland Film Festival
Film Aims To Normalize End Of Life Care, Interview with Carolyn Jones on WBEZ 91.5 Chicago
Interview with Director Carolyn Jones, We Are Moving Stories
“When I spoke to people, they talked about the love in their lives, being loved, or loving others was so important and I couldn’t help but wonder – do we have to be at the end of life to appreciate our lives and the people we love? ”
Defining Hope – Interview with Carolyn Jones, Senior Talks with Clara Hubbard
Jonas Center Funds Groundbreaking Film, Defining Hope, Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare
“Defining Hope provides an incredible and authentic insight into the world of palliative care, and the important role that nurses have in caring for patients towards end-of-life,” said Donald Jonas. “As the Jonas Center continues its dedication to advancing the nursing profession and improving healthcare, we are happy to continue to support Carolyn on this new project and help bring this truly important issue to light.”
Defining Hope: New Film Explores the End of Life, New York Academy of Medicine
“It may make you cry, but you will also laugh. It’s a film that hopes to normalize conversations about the end-of-life, and help us make better choices for ourselves and our loved ones.”
Conversations | Director Carolyn Jones on “Defining Hope”, New York Foundation for the Arts
“Almost all of us will have decisions to make or be made for us—the best thing we can do is let someone know what makes life worth living to us personally. ”
Defining Hope: A Catalyst for Palliative Nursing, Palliative Nursing Network
“Across the US, Defining Hope has mobilized nurses to collaborative grassroots action, to bring the film to their communities, building bridges and promoting dialogue.”
Calvary Hospital’s philosophy on end-of-life decisions shines in documentary – Catholic Health World
“Calvary Hospital was drawn to Jones’ Dying in America project and agreed to be a part of the Defining Hope film because Jones’ philosophy aligns with that of Calvary Hospital. Nitzberg said, ‘We recognized that we had the opportunity to work with a partner who wanted to show another side of the end-of-life experience — that this sacred time can be very life affirming and joyful, not just a time of sadness.'”
Film School with Mike Kaspar interview with Carolyn Jones
“We used to have a closer relationship with death, we saw it more and we understood it better and I think seeing it more often makes you deal with it in a better way. Since we kind of ship our elderly elsewhere, and we have ICUs that we can’t often go into, we’re not familiar with death and so we have forgotten that we’re going to die; I think we get really stuck in the present. And you’re so right, to remember it throws a light on everything, it makes you kind of be here in a better way if you can try to remember that it’s fleeting, it’s not permanent, we’re not here forever. And it’s hard stuff to talk about because it begins to sound so corny but it does make you really look at each day as being precious.”
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