The Center for the Study of Ethics in Society at Westen Michigan University will be opening the Fest at 1 pm with the world premiere of the short documentary, “Burd,” featuring 110-year-old WWII vet Burdett “Burd” Sisler, the oldest person in Canada. The film is 26 minutes long and will be followed by a Q&A with the director, Abraam Dawod.
The film confronts the physical and cognitive reality of living to 110, but it is not a film that offers lifestyle strategies for longevity. It is about memory, family, love, conflict, and the weight of outliving all of your contemporaries.
As Burd reflects on war, marriage, grief, and the family that sustained him, larger questions emerge. What does it mean to become one of the final witnesses to major historical events? What details disappear when a person dies? And what can cinema preserve before that moment arrives?
Don’t miss this short documentary about a great Canadian!