On the Threshold – Near-Death Experiences in the Light of Scientific Research on Dying | Documentary

Описание: This Thanatos TV documentary provides an overview of near-death experiences and death research and summarizes interviews from more than 10 years. The central question is: Is there life after death?

Time and again, people report amazing experiences close to death: They experience themselves outside their bodies and drawn through a tunnel to an indescribable light. They experience a panoramic review of their lives. Many encounter deceased relatives or have “all-unity experiences.”

Scientists offer various explanations for these phenomena: oxygen deprivation in the brain or the body's own drugs. There are also psychological explanations: hallucinations, fear management strategies, protective mechanisms in the brain.

Two scientists, physicist Werner Gruber (Austria, University of Vienna) and philosopher Godehard Brüntrup (Germany, University of Munich), look back on their own near-death experiences. How do they assess their experiences?

Despite significant neurophysiological findings in recent decades, the phenomenon of “near-death experiences” has remained mysterious. This is because only certain aspects of the experiences could be explained. However, studies show that profound near-death experiences change many of those affected forever—in their religious and ideological orientation, in their personal interests, and in their social contacts. How can this be?

The documentary series “Project Thanatos” – named after thanatology, the study of death – explores the phenomenon of near-death experiences in detail. Over a period of 10 years, hundreds of interviews were conducted with people who had had near-death experiences, as well as with doctors and scientists who are researching the diverse experiences of people who have come close to death.

The results showed that although those affected describe their inner experiences in very different ways, depending on their own worldview, life situation, and education, the content of all experiences is surprisingly and strikingly similar—across all demographic and religious boundaries.

The 100-minute documentary “On the Threshold” – part 1 of the film series – focuses on near-death experiences in the light of scientific research into death.

Contents overview:
00:00:00 Introduction and preview
00:04:52 Experiences “at the threshold” (Javier Gonzales, Emma Otero, Arnold Felfer)
00:17:57 From the history of death research
00:10:36 Accompanying the dying (Monika Renz)
00:13:40 Raymond Moody and the term “near-death experience” (Joachim Nicolay)
00:15:23 Near-death and neural processes (Werner Gruber)
00:24:38 The evaluation of near-death experiences: The “Greyson Scale” (Bruce Greyson)
00:25:35 Out-of-body experiences (Bo Katzman, Astrid Dauster, Anke Evertz, Beate W., Wolfgang Hermann Moissl, Nicole Züllig, Julia Fischer)
00:39:05 Studies on out-of-body perceptions (Wilfried Kuhn, Penny Sartori)
00:48:19 Visual perceptions in the dying process (Werner Gruber)
00:49:49 The “tunnel” and the light (Emma Otero, Astrid Dauster, Julia Fischer, Christine Brekenfeld, Manuela Fazzi, Nicole Züllig, Wolfgang Hermann Moissl, Javier Gonzales, Bo Katzman)
00:59:50 Near-death experiences: Attempts at explanation and unanswered questions (Joachim Nicolay)
01:01:56 The brain: Not the producer, but the receiver of consciousness? (Pim van Lommel)
01:05:09 The “movie of life” (Manuela Fazzi, Stefan Lampe, Heike Sucky, Werner Gruber, Sabine Mehne)
01:11:50 “Super senses” and personality changes (Reto Eberhard Rast, Godehard Brüntrup, Bo Katzman, Stefan Lampe, Heike Sucky, Vinzenz Hensle)
01:24:39 Is there consciousness after death? (Godehard Bruntrup, Reto Eberhard Rast, Werner Gruber, August Ruhs, Pim van Lommel)
01:30:18 “Materialism is baloney” (Reto Eberhard Rast, Bernardo Kastrup, Godehard Brüntrup)

Related Topics: #nde #afterlife

Camera:
Ewald Maier
Romana Meister
Wolfgang Scherz
Vera Spillner
Heike Sucky
Amira Weiss
Mehmet Yesilgöz

Video footage:
Arnold Felfer
Javier Gonzales
Storyblocks

Music:
Efliz: “The Call” © Storyblocks
Jamua: “InSight” © Roman Oberholzer
Jamua: “Cloud” © Roman Oberholzer
Jamua: ‘Wings’ © Roman Oberholzer
Jamua: “The Call” © Roman Oberholzer
Jon Presstone: “Emerging Science” © Storyblocks
Ingrid Weindel: “Studio F” © Thanatos TV

Music information:
Jamua on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/arti...
Jamua homepage: https://www.jamua.net

Translation, Voice-over:
Peter Cox
Kate Howlett-Jones
Werner Huemer
Vera Spillner

With the kind cooperation of:
Jennifer Nejo
Joachim Nicolay
Reto Eberhard Rast
Roman Oberholzer
Jens Rohrbeck
Vera Spillner
Heike Sucky

Netzwerk Nahtoderfahrung, Germany
SWISS IANDS

Editor:
Werner Huemer

A film documentary by Werner Huemer

℗ Mediaservice Werner Huemer
© 2026 Thanatos TV EN

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