2 Pitt Public Health professors led a Collaborative Filmmaking study on grief

University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health researchers Jessica Burke and Sara Baumann led a study on parent bereavement journeys, which resulted in the film “Visualizing Loss.”

The film was created by and follows five families across Pennsylvania who are navigating the complex grief of the death of a child with a rare genetic disease. The films and resulting co-analysis sessions uncovered a complex and evolving journey, and the researchers not that these experiences do not necessarily provide a complete picture or generalize all experiences.

Assistant Professor Baumann and Vice Dean Burke, both faculty in Pitt’s Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, developed the Collaborative Filmmaking method, in which participants are trained in basic filmmaking technology and techniques before eventually making their own films centered on research questions.

A November virtual premier of the film drew hundreds of viewers and was followed by a panel with the collaborative filmmakers. Watch the videos.