Netflix Premieres First Original Short Documentary "Extremis" in September

Beverly Hills, Calif. April 14, 2016 -- Netflix, the world's leading Internet TV network, today announced its first original short documentary Extremis will debut globally in September.

Directed by Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated filmmaker Dan Krauss, Extremis is a verité documentary exploring the harrowing decisions that doctors, families and patients face in urgent end-of-life cases. With extraordinary access to the intensive care unit of a public hospital (Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA), the film offers a uniquely intimate look at the intersection of science, faith, and humanity.

The film draws its power from stories of ordinary people grappling with intensely profound questions, fostering a sense of empathy for individuals with a diversity of backgrounds and beliefs, all facing the same human truth. As one physician says in the film, "everyone in this room is going to die someday. It's good to have a say in how."

"I strive to explore weighty ethical and moral questions though my films," said Director Dan Krauss. "Doctors today can sustain life in ways once thought impossible, ushering in new and extremely complex questions about what it means for critically ill people to be kept alive. I hope audiences will take courage from the incredible dignity and compassion that the film's subjects displayed amidst the most challenging circumstances."

Extremis premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 17th, followed by a screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival on Saturday, April 23rd.

Dan Krauss' documentary, The Death of Kevin Carter, was nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and won prizes from the Tribeca Film Festival, and the International Documentary Association, among others. His 2014 feature documentary The Kill Team won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, an Independent Spirit Award, a nomination from the Director's Guild of America, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. As Director of Photography, Krauss has filmed numerous feature documentaries, including: Inequality for All, Broadway Idiot, We Are Legion, The Most Dangerous Man in America and Life 2.0.

An essay published today in the New York Times from Jessica Nutik Zitter, a critical and palliative care physician featured in Extremis, can be found here.