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Burial Rites · 2007

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TV Documentary

Burial Rites in change

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CH 2007 | 32 | TV doc | German only
Writers & directors: Mehdi Sahebi, Aya Domenig
Camera: Mehdi Sahebi
Editing: Aya Domenig
Production: go between films | Luc Schaedler

Are cemeteries outdated? Are new burial rites needed?

Certainly the demand for rectangular graves in straight lines is declining. To slowly decompose in the ground has a growing negative connotation.

More and more people seem to ask for communal graves or wish their ashes to be scattered in special places.

The city of Zurich had these tendencies investigated in a scientific study and made the results accessible in a touching TV documentary film.

With surprising openness both young and old people discuss their attitude towards dying and how they would want to be buried – and thus develop new burial rites.

«On the level of grave forms, a strong tendency towards community graves can be observed. Rational, aesthetic and ideological considerations play a role in the individual decision for a community grave. Changing family structures and the increasing mobility of society have meant that family members often live far apart. This makes grave visits difficult in many cases.

In this context, the community graves offers a simpler and less individual solution than a traditional row grave: the relatives can visit the community grave, but do not have to, and they always know that the buried family member is not alone».
Aya Domenig (Director)

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Swiss Films – Burial rites in change

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