Watch Now: ‘These Four Walls: Grief in the Pandemic’

What has it truly been like to be bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic? How have people coped, when infection control restrictions made saying goodbye difficult or impossible, and expressions of love and companionship from friends, family and community have been disrupted by social distancing?

Good Grief’s founding director Dr Lucy Selman, and her research partner Dr Emily Harrop, have spent the past two years exploring experiences of loss and grief during the pandemic. These Four Walls – a short film giving voice to all those who have been bereaved in the UK – is the result of their research.

The film was written, directed and designed by Ellie Harrison The Artistic Director of The Grief Series with cinematography and editing by Matt Rogers. Ellie says “reading through the quotes of people who took part in the research it was incredible to hear their resilience and bravery.”

Using flat-lay imagery and incorporating real accounts from research participants bereaved during the pandemic, the film aims to convey the reality of grieving at this unprecedented time.

Lucy Selman said she wants the public to remember that behind every death in the pandemic is a family who were not able to grieve in ways we would normally expect.

“I hope there will now be increased understanding and empathy of what people went through, and that lessons will be learnt.”