Left on Purpose (2015)

Left on Purpose: Directed by Justin Schein, David Mehlman. With Andrew Hoffman, Michael Ventura, Mayer Vishner. Left on Purpose is a documentary film about the friendship between an aging anti-war activist who has decided that his last political act will be to take his own life and the filmmaker who is struggling to tell the story.

“This is a beautiful and sensitive film that explores the existential struggles and frustrations of a man who devoted his life to radical politics, as well as probing the loneliness of depression, and the ethics of documentary filmmaking itself. Mayer Vishner, its central character, is captivating— passionate, principled, witty, and suicidal. The filmmaker is transparently introspective about his own role in Vishneru0026#39;s life and fate, and raises questions that will generate important and difficult conversation that most of us are afraid to have. A must see for anyone interested in leftist social movements and the toll such commitments take on the human soul.”