MEANWHILE ON EARTH

When we die, there are a lot of practicalities that need to be taken care of before our time among the living is finally over. This documentary offers a factual overview of the typical steps in Sweden’s contemporary funerary industry, in which every ritual conceals a set of routine procedures.

A highlight from 2020’s Rotterdam film festival was this wry and elegiac look at Sweden’s funeral industry, which recalls the unexpected humor of Roy Andersson. Using static camera positions and moments of dazzling visual symmetry, director Carl Olsson looks at the odd rituals of death.