Valeria Golino, Italian actress and director, talks about assisted suicide and end of life decisions in her films ‘Honey’ and ‘Euphoria’.

In this podcast Valeria Golino talks about end of life issues; assisted suicide, the common practice of some Italian people withholding the true diagnosis of terminal illness from their affected relatives, and doctor-patient relationships in these emotionally challenging circumstances. Such themes were explored in the award-winning films she directed, ‘Miele’ (2013) and ‘Euphoria’ (2018). Ms Golino neither demonizes nor endorses controversial practices around death; she invites the viewer to reflect on such ethical and moral dilemmas. In ‘Miele’ she provokes the audience to think about the motivations driving some people to request assisted-suicide, namely depression. In ‘Euphoria’ she tells the story of two brothers coming to appreciate each other’s lifestyle and decisions at a time when one of them is dying of terminal illness.

An important factor that inspires Ms Golino to make films is her desire to tell real human stories that the audience can empathise with. A relationship of understanding, trust and love must exist between her and the actors and actresses in her films to tell a believable story.

Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud here.