A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Loss is part of every life.
How do we learn to live with it?
IN DEVELOPMENT
A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Loss is part of every life.
How do we learn to live with it?
IN DEVELOPMENT
Call the Doula explores grief and loss from childhood to old age through intimate personal stories. Along the way, we meet grief educators and doulas—non-medical companions who walk alongside people through loss and at the end of life.
ABOUT THE FILM
The losses that shape a life
A childhood goodbye, the end of a relationship, a change in health, the death of someone we love. Loss can change our sense of who we are and the future we imagined. Yet many of us encounter it with little understanding of grief or how to support one another.
Among the film’s voices is Matthew Horder, whose parents, Howard and Susan, were killed aboard Flight MH17. His story brings us closer to the private grief behind a public tragedy. Together, these personal experiences open a conversation about love, remembrance and learning to live with what has changed.
THE IMPACT WE HOPE TO HAVE
Towards a culture of grief literacy
We hope Call the Doula helps build a culture of grief literacy: greater understanding of loss, language to talk about it, and confidence to support one another.
Through personal stories and thoughtful conversations, the film invites us to explore how grief can affect our bodies, thoughts and everyday lives—and how we learn to live with what has changed. Our hope is to bring that understanding into families, workplaces and communities, making room for grief and continuing connection.
Open Conversations
Greater confidence to speak about grief and listen with care.
Understanding Grief
Recognising how loss can affect how we feel, think and function.
Supportive Responses
Practical ways to offer care without rushing someone’s grief.
Continuing Connection
Helping people feel included and supported as life changes.
Loss enters our lives long before we know how to name it. A childhood goodbye, the end of a relationship, a change in health, the death of someone we love. Each can alter our sense of who we are and the future we imagined. Yet many of us reach these moments with little understanding of grief or how to support someone experiencing it.
Through intimate personal stories and encounters with doulas and grief educators, Call the Doula explores how we understand loss across a lifetime. It invites us to learn about grief before a loss occurs, and to bring that understanding into our families, workplaces and communities. With room for humour, affection and remembrance, the film explores different experiences of grief, the care people find helpful, and how facing mortality might change the way we live.
WHY THIS FILM
Grief is not a marginal issue
Grief touches every family, workplace, school, aged care service and health setting. When grief is ignored, the consequences reach across mental and physical health, workforce capability, social connection and community wellbeing. Improving grief literacy calls for a conversation across the whole of society.
Call the Doula brings that conversation to the screen. Through personal stories and conversations with doulas and grief educators, it explores how we understand loss across a lifetime—and how families, workplaces and communities can become more confident responding with care. It asks what changes when grief is recognised, people feel heard, and support becomes part of everyday life.
WHO THIS FILM IS FOR
A wider conversation
People living with loss, whether recent or long-held.
Families, friends and carers who want to understand.
Workplaces, healthcare and aged care teams, educators,
libraries and community groups seeking greater understanding
of grief and loss.
Anyone curious about grief, care and the life we share.
You may recognise your own experience, or come to understand someone you love a little better.
A NOTE FROM THE FILMMAKER
Why I am making this film
Grief and loss are part of being human. Yet too often, we receive little guidance before we encounter them—leaving us struggling to understand ourselves, let alone know how to support someone else.
Making my previous documentary, Shattered, brought me close to people living with profound changes in their lives. Their experiences, alongside my own losses and my work in grief education, deepened my understanding of grief across a lifetime.
Rituals and remembrance bring us together to acknowledge loss. But after the ceremony ends, people and communities still face the daily task of living with what has changed. That takes time, connection and continuing care.
Call the Doula invites a conversation we need throughout society: how can we learn about grief earlier, understand our own responses, and become more confident caring for one another through life’s most difficult moments?
Kathie Melocco
Filmmaker
PROJECT STATUS
Call the Doula is a feature
documentary in development.
01 Research completed
02 Interview filming underway
03 Post-production, distribution and an impact campaign
FOLLOW THE FILM AS IT TAKES SHAPE.
PROJECT STATUS
Call the Doula is a feature
documentary in development.
01 Stories of grief and loss
02 Conversations with doulas and grief educators
03 Research and production planning
FOLLOW THE FILM AS IT TAKES SHAPE.
PRODUCTION FUNDING
Help fund Call the Doula
We are seeking financial support to develop, produce and bring Call the Doula to audiences. The film aims to help people understand grief and loss as part of life, before they encounter them.
Funding will pay for the skilled work of making the documentary, including research, filming, editing, sound, music and paid production time. We welcome conversations with prospective funders and philanthropic supporters. Contact us to discuss the funding proposal.
The film will retain editorial independence.
We also welcome relevant expertise and practical assistance. These contributions will complement the financial support needed to make the film.
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