Award-winning producer Jane Charles talks about aging, dying, and finding new life in her 2021 film East of the Mountains (based on the novel by David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars). East of the Mountains is the story of Dr. Ben Givens, a retired heart surgeon and recent widower who learns he has terminal cancer, and his journey back to the beauty and connection of life. “I always believe when you’re telling a story, you end up living the journey of that film…You live the journey and when you finish the film, it’s like giving birth to all those stories and emotions that you went through but we’re changed by the art and the stories that we tell.”