When local filmmaker Ashley Mosher realized her beloved dog was nearing the end of its life, she turned the camera on her canine companion — mostly to save the memories for herself.
But as Mosher navigated the loss of her chocolate lab named Kenya, she started making connections to an earlier moment of grief: the death of her father, when she was still a teenager.
“I realized how very important it is that the stories we tell ourselves about our past inform the decisions and the choices we make in the here and the now,” Mosher told Aspen Public Radio.
Mosher recognized a “universal story” in her personal experience, and decided to share it through her latest documentary, “Goodboy.” The film explores the relationship between confronting death and celebrating life, for humans and dogs alike.
“We're all going to come to pass, and people and beloved souls in our lives are going to come to pass,” she said. “And we have a choice: we can either avoid that at all costs, or we can choose to turn towards it and have an intimacy with this — what turns out, at least for me, to be an incredibly beautiful experience.”
The film’s message clearly resonates with local audiences: A screening on Jan. 20 sold out well in advance of the event, so organizers added a second screening on Jan. 27. That, too, has sold out, with a waitlist available.
“We are surrounded by people who love animals,” said Wes Boyd, the executive director of the Colorado Animal Rescue in Glenwood Springs. (The nonprofit animal shelter helped present both screenings, and is a beneficiary of some ticket proceeds.)
“We hope the film encourages people to help more animals through this end stage of their life, and to provide them a spot to feel loved, and celebrated as they pass,” Boyd added.
Mosher, for her part, hopes the film will help others process grief and loss, too.
“Creating the film was really healing for me, because I knew that at the end of all of that, that this was going to be a resource for others,” she said.
