City of the Dead
“A fierce look at the banality of death.”
M.J. Doxa
“A warm and overwhelming portrait of the human condition.”
Bianca-Olivia Nita. Modern Times Review
“A must see. Not for the faint of heart.”
Jennifer Hammersmark. Medium.
Synopsis
“City of the Dead” is a documentary about death performed by the living. Its protagonists are people who face death on a daily basis, and who have found another way to understand it.
In the cemetery of Palma de Mallorca, Biel, the watchman; José, the commercial agent; David and Sergio, the funeral practitioners; Jaume and Mohammed, gardeners, José Luis, from the crematorium oven and Manuela, who works in cleaning. Through their relationships, sometimes dramatic, sometimes comical, we discover the unknown world of death, but also the personal stories of its inhabitants.
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Director's note
During the last few years I have visited several funeral homes to say goodbye to family members and acquaintances. Frequently, and to my surprise, the deceased was not the protagonist. There they did not talk about death or the dead, but about any other more pleasant and well-known subject.
In a hurried society, in which youth and success prevail, death remains a taboo that generates a silenced curiosity in the form of opposing feelings.
As spaces of death, the cemetery and the funeral home also provoke contradictory reactions: fascination and, at the same time, prejudices and concerns. They are reviled places but also poetic.
With this documentary I investigate how to relate to this fascinating phase of life, through those who deal with it daily.
Title: City of the Dead
International title: City of the dead
Gender: Documentary
Duration: 56 min / 61 min
Recording Format: 16:9 AppleProRes422HQ
Screening format: AppleProRes422 and H264
Original language: Spanish and Catalan
Subtitles available: English and French
Locations: Palma de Mallorca
Year of production: 2019
Producer: Mosaic Productions
Co-produced by: IB3 Televisió de les Illes Balears
With the support of: Consell de Mallorca, Institut d’Estudis Balearics, Illes Balears Film Commission and Palma City Council
International sales: 3BoxMedia
Festival distribution agent: Movies for festivals
Direction and script: Michael Eek
Production Manager: Marta Castells
Production Assistant: Virginia Galán
Camera Operators: Edu Biurrun, Jan Hernández, Pablo Bohigas, Joan Vidal and Bosco Llona
Direct Sound: Carlos Novoa
Sound Design and Mixing: Rubén Pérez
Editor: Aina Calleja
Color grading: Jaume Alcina
Graphic design and poster: Eduard Bagur