About this Event
Grab a seat for a specially curated film screening with a lively discussion about the things we don't always talk about: death, dying and what it all means.
Expect a brilliant film, fascinating conversation and fresh perspectives from people working across healthcare, funeral services, public services and the arts. The Dead Good Film Club has been sparking exactly these kinds of honest, entertaining and eye-opening conversations for years and we're bringing it to your library.
Dead Good Film Club is hosted by Newcastle based independent producer and funeral celebrant Andy Jones.
About the film
"Death in the City" Directed by Balakar Ghosh (72 minutes, Hindi with English Subtitles.)
Doors open at 7:45pm Screening starts at 8:00pm followed by Q&A
The sacred city of Varanasi—set on the banks of the Ganges, “the river of life”—has been the revered destination for death for Hindus since time immemorial. With legendary funeral pyres burning for over three millennia, the city’s status is founded on the belief that dying in Varanasi breaks the repeated cycle of rebirth.
Filmed over four years (2018–2021), Death in the City is an intimate portrait of “The City of Life and Death” and the communities who live and work in its ancient streets—those waiting to die, those who work with the dead, and (with rare access) the death-worshipping Aghori Saints.
Structured in three movements—the spiritual, the metaphysical, and the experiential—the film explores Varanasi’s relationship with death as at once auspicious, devotional, and industrial, set against the most pressured crematorium in the world.
Awards
Winner — Jury Prize for Best Documentary, Eurasian Bridge Yalta International Film Festival (October 2024).
“This beautiful, spellbinding film, a weaving of cultural anthropology and visual poetry, explores sacred traditions and rituals as deep and complex as the mystery of death itself. Congratulations, an amazing film!”
Elizabeth Frank, Author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Watch Trailer:Death in the City - trailer | Videos & Movies on Vimeo
This event is part of the Afterlives Festival https://afterlives.uk/
London events take place from 4-7 June at Wanstead and Redbridge Central Libraries
Funded by Arts Council England
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Wanstead Library, 3 Spratt Hall Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 3.96
