A sensitive and life-affirming documentary following three groups of people as they participate in the ritual of care after death. They are supported by a group of women who empower people to take back control.
Encouraging family and friends to be involved in the whole or any part of the process; from advice around keeping a body at home until the funeral, to bathing and dressing the deceased explaining that embalming is not necessary. And from using their own vehicle to transport the coffin to being bearers for their loved one’s final journey. With the industrialisation, corporatisation and speed of dealing with the dead in the UK, a growing number of people are worried by this ‘conveyor belt of death’. Some people are taking back ownership of this ceremonial rite.
With extraordinary access, we follow three groups of people, close up, from after the death through to the ceremony. This relatively unknown work is part of an emerging global movement confronting the way death is approached. It is a gentle look at a human right that has been taken away, but is gradually being reclaimed by ordinary people.