Directed by Lorraine Price

Logline: Kathleen is a hairdresser. Always has been, always will be. Even at 84, she's still doing hair. Just not in the way you would expect. Kathleen's work is special.

Synopsis: Kathleen is a hairdresser. Always has been. Always will be. Even at 83, she's still doing hair. But not in the way you would expect Kathleen's work is special. In this short documentary, as we bear witness to her unusual work, Kathleen reflects on her experience, and confides in us about the people that touched her most and the unforgettable moments she has been a part of.

Distribution Contact: WFG

More Details

RUNTIME: 13 Minutes
GENRE: Documentary
PRODUCTION FORMAT: HD
LANGUAGE: French, English
LOCATION: Quebec
KEYWORDS: Women, Body Image, Death, Health, Female Filmmaker

Director's Statement: For as long as I can remember, my grandmother, Cara Price, dyed her hair fire engine red. She never left the house without bright red lipstick to match. Cara wore floral print blouses and costume jewelry, her nails were long and often ornately decorated with designs and mini rhinestones. Well into her eighties, she could still be seen teetering down her driveway in Los Angeles atop platform sandals. Her style was ostentatious, loud, and bad ass.

When Cara passed away at the age of 92, dementia had taken over the mind of the woman I knew, and she was barely recognizable—her hair was white, her nails nude, and her lips pale. It felt as though she was gone long before she left us.

Shortly after my grandmother's passing, I read a small newspaper article in La Presse about a woman named Kathleen Mahony, who volunteered doing hair and makeup for the terminally ill at the palliative care unit at Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal. Learning about Kathleen's work transformed my understanding of end-of-life care. I was finally able to process some of what I felt at the end of my grandmother's life. My family and I were so absorbed by our grief and our desire to mitigate her suffering that we neglected to help her maintain the outward-facing identity that she had cultivated her whole life. Why did we assume this was any less important to her because she was dying? I'm sure now that something as simple as painting her nails would have made a difference to her.

I reached out to Kathleen immediately after reading the article and we embarked on the journey to make this documentary together.

Kathleen's services are invaluable but remain far from universal. In our society, we avoid discussions around death and dying—taboos still dominate our relationship to the end of life. My hope is that this film will lead us to ponder what it means to live with dignity even when we are dying, and perhaps think a little differently about our loved ones needs as they approach the end of their own stories.

*In 2013, Kathleen was awarded the Governor General Sovereigns Medal for Volunteers.