In January 2020, the RCMP killed homelessness activist Barry Shantz at his home in Lytton, B.C during a mental health crisis. That morning, his partner called 911 for help. What they got was an army of police officers, including snipers, but not a single mental health worker. In response to this tragedy, his sister Marilyn creates a series of art quilts called Kairos – a Greek word which means ‘an opportune time for action’.

A Bullet Pulling Thread is a documentary that follows Marilyn’s journey and tells the story of her brother’s extraordinary life. Marilyn began her Kairos quilts as a way to process her grief. She also believes they could be important tools to spark conversations about mental health and to motivate change in policing. While carrying on this artistic mission, Marilyn also tries to discover why police replied to her brother’s cry for help with fatal force. And as she discovers, grief is a question with no easy answers.