Since 2009, Australian-born film producer Amy Browne has been working on the feature film, A Will for the Woods, dealing with a subject that most people her age would pay little attention to.

From the moment we wake up each morning we are thinking about what comes next, planning ahead to a trip, to visit family or friends, planning for a birthday party or getting ready to go out to an event at the weekend.  

The longer-term plans get put off – such as planning ahead for our health care or even, dare we mention it, our death care.

But that is what local nurse practitioner, Denise Lyons, wants us to pay attention to, and she figures this film will help us come to terms with some of the issues that we will inevitably face.  

“Our experience is, that the sooner we think about and face up to them the better our quality of life between now and then”, Ms Lyons said.

People of all ages will identify with the movie's lead character,Clark Wang, who apart from being a psychiatrist is a dancer, musician and advocate for green burial. 

Faced with a terminal illness, Clark Wang chooses a death style that will reflect his lifestyle.  A death style that will inspire others to think about how their bodies could be laid to rest.

While battling lymphoma, Clark has discovered a burgeoning movement that uses burial to conserve and restore natural areas, forgoing contemporary funeral practices that operate at the ecosystem’s expense. 

Boldly facing his mortality, Clark and his partner Jane have become passionate about green burial, compelled by both the environmental benefits and the idea that one can remain within the cycle of life, rather than being cut off from it. 

Making the most of the time that he has, Clark finds joy in his music and dance, connection with his friends and family, and great comfort in the knowledge that his death, whenever it happens, will be a force for regeneration. 

The film follows Clark’s dream of leaving a loving, permanent legacy, and environmentalism takes on a deeply human intimacy.

Documenting one community's role in the genesis of a revolutionary movement, A Will for the Woods draws the viewer into a life-affirming portrait of people embracing their connection to each other and to timeless natural cycles.

A Will for the Woods will be screened at Toronto Uniting Church, 118 The Boulevarde, on Wednesday, April 1, at 7pm.  

Tickets at the door.  Phone 0404 508474 or 0437 543465.