ASPEN, Colo. – A new film offers Hunter S. Thompson (search) fans a chance to get an inside view of the late writer's elaborate memorial service.
Director Wayne Ewing's (search) hour-long movie "When I Die (search)" will be shown Saturday in Denver as part of the Starz Denver International Film Festival. It depicts the creation of the 15-story cannon used to blast the late gonzo journalist's ashes into the sky at a closed memorial service on Thompson's Woody Creek property in August.
Ewing, who also made "Breakfast With Hunter" in 2003, also shows the planning and governmental approvals organizers had to get in order honor Thompson's wishes for his sendoff.
Thompson shot himself in his kitchen Feb. 20, apparently despondent over health problems. Actor Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the 1998 movie adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", paid the $2.6 million cost of the party.
Some of Thompson's friends, including Ewing and Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, and Thompson's widow, Anita, will participate in a panel discussion following the screening.
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