Sunset Eddy (2019)
This was a project I made in college that followed a very close friend of mine while he went about planning for and processing his own inevitable death. Eddy was a medic in the Vietnam War who lived a colorful life spent partying, laying on the beach, and fliriting with every single woman he ever encountered without exception. Due to complications with his lungs, most likely caused by his exposure to chemicals like Agent Orange in the 1970’s, Eddy was destined to within the year. During my time spent with Eddy, I got to meet his family, his funeral director, and most importantly I got to watch all the strangers he made smile as he went through the day. Eddy had the keen ability to make everyone he ever talked to laugh. Underneath his crass and sometimes agressively flirtatious nature, and despite his experiences with War, crime, and drug abuse, Eddy had the things that I was desperately searching for at this time in my own life: inner peace, happiness, and conclusions on the meaning of our existence.
The first day I met up with him to shoot, Eddy said that he would be okay with recording his death on camera. During that time he planned to commit suicide if his medical complications worsened to the point where he would lose control of his body or mind. However, Eddy didn’t die within the expected timeframe his doctor gave him and so this video was completed before Eddy passed. He did not end up committing suicide ultimately left this life in his sleep, peacefully.
Confronted with his own death, his past, and his complex relationship with his family all being recorded on camera, Eddy was open and honest about who he was, why he was, and what he found important in this life (mainly beautiful beaches, beautiful women, good booze, and maintaining his unwavering sense of humor).
The people around him called him Sunset Eddy and as the Sun set on his own life, I had the privelege of learning what that name really meant.