I am trying to look for a documentary or art film I used to watch with my grandma on HBO on demand over 10 years ago.This film contains heavy topics, but it is about suicide or suicide notes. It was entirely in black and white and contained old footage from probably from the 20s-30s to the 50s-60s. The footage was of mostly suicides. Three clips I could remember was one of a woman slitting her wrist, another was of a man loading a revolver and a little boy walking into the room, and a third was of two women in a hospital crying and an orderly carts a body covered by a sheet by them. One of the lines I remember was they said “the first note was written on papyrus” or something like that. It also talked about Ernest Hemmingway, the author who shot himself.I can date the film was made sometime before 2011 or 2009. My grandma would show me documentaries on HBO on demand. I remember either The Memory Loss Tapes (2009) or How to Die in Oregon (2011) being shown around the same time so I would imagine the film was made before 2011.I already looked in The HBO Documentary Films Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:HBO_documentary_films but I can’t find it there so maybe it was an art film.My grandma used to show us these documentaries on repeat when we went to her house or she came over. I really want to find it and reconnect with the nostalgia of it all.The film had a female narrator and was entirely in black and white from my knowledge.HBO had a series called America Undercover that had an episode tilted Suicide Notes THIS IS NOT IT
I cheated and put your description into ChatGPT but it looks like I found itLast Letters is an HBO-produced documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman that focuses entirely on suicide notes across history.Key overlaps with your description:Aired on HBO / HBO On Demand Frequently shown in the early–mid 2000s and rerun quietly, often outside HBO’s main documentary branding.Entirely black-and-white aesthetic Uses archival footage, photographs, medical films, and historical imagery from the 1920s–1960s.Heavy use of archival suicide imagery Includes dramatized and documentary-era visuals of:Wrist-cutting imageryFirearms and pre-suicide domestic scenesHospital corridors, bodies under sheets, grieving family membersFemale narrator reading suicide notes The narration is calm, literary, and detached — matching the tone you remember.Explicit discussion of suicide notes through history Including references to early writing materials (your memory of “the first note was written on papyrus” is very on-brand for this film’s historical framing).Includes Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway and his suicide note are discussed prominently.Not always listed cleanly under “HBO Documentary Films” Often categorized as an art documentary or Wiseman film rather than a standard HBO doc — which explains why you couldn’t find it on that Wikipedia list.
Nope not it. ChatGPT must have hallucinated.
>>41703059Based LLM user>>41701965DeepSeek says: Based on the details you've provided, the film you're most likely remembering is "The Darkness of Day" (2009) by experimental filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt.Format & Style Entirely composed of found 16mm footage, described as a "haunting meditation on suicide" that uses discarded film clips. This aligns with your memory of an art film comprised of old, black-and-white clips.Content & Theme Explicitly about suicide, exploring the subject through archival footage and voice-over readings from a journal.HBO Connection The film's official synopsis lists an HBO Synopsis among its awards and screenings, confirming it aired on the network.Release Era Released in 2009, which fits your timeline of watching it on HBO On Demand over a decade ago, around the same time as The Memory Loss Tapes (2009).Specific Clips While the exact scenes (woman slitting wrist, man with revolver, hospital) aren't listed in the short description, the film is made from a wide range of discarded 16mm footage depicting sadness and isolation in various contexts, making such dramatic archival clips highly plausible.
>>41701965Was it edited so you don’t see the actual suicide?
>>41703059>>41703110>deepseek mogs gpt every timeunless you ask about tiananmen square
>>41701965did you find it?
>>41703575clinksy w
