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Bearing Witness: Luke Melchior

2003 51 min
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This feature documentary is a portrait of Luke Melchior (1973-2021) who, at 26, had already lived longer than most people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive wasting of the muscles. Knowing his life would be relatively short had made Luke feel an urgency about making a lasting contribution. Living independently, with the help of 3 homecare workers, he ran a web-based business selling outdoor gear, and chaired the board of the Disability Resource Centre in Victoria, BC, where he was a passionate advocate for the rights of the disabled. Bearing Witness consists of 3 films, each approximately one hour long, …

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Bearing Witness: Luke Melchior

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This feature documentary is a portrait of Luke Melchior (1973-2021) who, at 26, had already lived longer than most people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive wasting of the muscles. Knowing his life would be relatively short had made Luke feel an urgency about making a lasting contribution. Living independently, with the help of 3 homecare workers, he ran a web-based business selling outdoor gear, and chaired the board of the Disability Resource Centre in Victoria, BC, where he was a passionate advocate for the rights of the disabled.


Bearing Witness consists of 3 films, each approximately one hour long, on people with life-threatening illnesses. The series also profiles Jocelyn Morton, who died of liver cancer at 44, and Robert Coley-Donohue, who died of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) at age 74.

Health and Medicine Families People with disabilities Work and Labour Relations Psychology and Psychiatry All subjects
  • director
    Dan Curtis
  • writer
    Jim Osborne
  • camera
    Dan Curtis
  • sound
    Dan Curtis
  • picture editing
    Dan Curtis
  • music composer
    Tobin Stokes
  • producer
    Adam Symansky
    Pierre Lapointe
  • executive producer
    Sally Bochner
  • sound editor
    Don Ayer
  • re-recording
    Serge Boivin
    Jean Paul Vialard
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • on-line technician
    Denis Gathelier
  • digital editing technician
    Phyllis Lewis
  • title design
    Gaspard Gaudreau
  • post-production coordinator
    Linda Payette
  • program administrator
    Marie Tonto-Donati
    Nickie Merulla
  • production clerk
    Sia Koukoulas
  • transcription
    Susan Panneton

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Education

Ages 14 to 17
School subjects
Health/Personal Development - Healthy Relationships Health/Personal Development - Mental Health/Stress/Suicide Media Education - Documentary Film Social Studies - Social Policies and Programs
Ask students to investigate society's support of disability, and how family relationships are affected by disease. Initiate projects in which students evaluate the strengths and flaws in their local government support networks, and suggest changes. Filmmaking students can examine the film's strategies in representing an authentic, private experience without excessive sentiment. Ask Psychology students to research the treatment of an individual's loss of power and independence.
Bearing Witness: Luke Melchior
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