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This documentary opens a window onto a
compelling new trend in America's treatment of death: the
home funeral. Prior to the 20th century, caring for the dead
in our country fell to family and friends. The rise of the
more institutional, 'sanitized' funeral has over time served
to alienate Americans from one of the most basic facts of
life. Home funeral advocates believe that close contact with
the body, even for children, has been shown to help with the
grieving process. Filmed across the country, A FAMILY UNDERTAKING
intimately follows several diverse families as they forego
a typical mortuary funeral and care for their loved ones at
home. The camera also ventures behind closed doors into the
world of the American funeral industry, to shed light on some
of the tricks of the trade.
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Keith Carr
visits a pioneer grave out on the prairie
near his home in South Dakota.
Photo by Andrew Kist © 2002.
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A model promotes
caskets at the International
Cemetery and Funeral Association Convention
in Orlando, Florida.
Photo by Andrew Kist © 2002.
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Produced and Directed by Elizabeth
Westrate,
A FAMILY UNDERTAKING explores the range of complex
psychological, cultural, legal and financial issues that surround
the home funeral movement. The film challenges viewers in
the process to reexamine their own attitude toward life's
only inevitability: death.
The film was completed in Spring 2003, and premiered at the American Film Institute's Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival. It was broadcast on the acclaimed PBS series P.O.V. in 2004 2004 and was adapted for the Public Radio International show, The Next Big Thing. Excerpts from A FAMILY UNDERTAKING were recently featured in the book In Passing: A Book About Death. Videos and stills from the film were exhibited at The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery.
A FAMILY UNDERTAKING was produced with funds from the Independent Television Service (ITVS), which receives its funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund. Distribution is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. Fiscal Sponsor: Women Make Movies.
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