Premiering on ABC’s Compass this Sunday night, Island of the Dead is a raw and uplifting new documentary that follows the lives of three women living in Kangaroo Island navigating end of life, on their own terms.
Set against the beauty of South Australia’s Kangaroo Island – known in the local language as Carta, the Island of the Dead – the film offers an inspiring and intimite portrayal of bravery in the face of terminal illness.
Before you reach for the tissues, this isn’t a morbid film. While it’ll move you and likely pull at the heart strings, it’s about reclaiming the end of life journey as an enlightening experience.
“Strangely enough, there’s a really positive element to it,” explains Heidi, the island’s first death doula.
“These people are so brave, courageous and funny. What we see when people are dying is how much it affirms what living means to them. Everything we value about being alive… we never have those conversations in other contexts.”
Working alongside Kangaroo Island’s community health palliative care team, Heidi is part of a rare model that allows people to receive holistic, community-driven care.
While doctors and nurses manage the medical side of things, she steps in to help with everything else. Her role as a doula is one of companionship and service, and complete connection to community.
“It’s a very reciprocal arrangement where the client actually shapes the service that I give them. They’re not just passive recipients of support, they’re actually driving the support that they would like and I think that really comes out,” she explains.
“It’s about supporting people who are at end of life or who are facing a life-limiting illness… but it’s not restricted to that. It’s really supporting anyone who wants to get their end-of-life plans in order.”
Heidi began her service as a doula in the wake of the devastating 2020 Kangaroo Island bushfires.
In the face of chaos, grief, and mass displacement, she noticed that the most effective and comforting support came the Kangaroo Island community itself.
“Neighbours supported neighbours. People shared resources and knowledge and friendship and support… There’s a real feeling of, ‘We’re good. We can do this. We’ve got each other’s backs.”
That spirit is embedded in the documentary. It brings to light the local community and their profound connection to land in a unique story that filmmaker Dan Clarke believes has never been told before.
There is often an uncomfortability around mortality. People shy away from using the word death and outsource care for the dying. For Heidi, sharing this story changes the narrative.
“The word dead makes people uncomfortable. It’s not called ‘Island of going to the pearly gates,'” she says.
“It’s a cultural thing that over time, we’ve sort of padded everything as though we can’t manage it, but we actually can, so it’s reclaiming some of that.”
Island of the Dead is not a story about loss. It’s a celebration of agency, connection, and community and death.
“I hope when people watch it, they reflect back on their own lives and realise how valuable and precious it is because one day it will end,” Heidi says.
“And when that reality really sinks into your bones, suddenly life takes on a whole new value.”
The documentary will premiere at 6.30pm on Sunday, April 13, and will be available to watch on iview thereafter.
WHAT: Island of the Dead Documentary
WHEN: Sunday April 13 at 6.30pm & on iview thereafter
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