Don’t be afraid to bring out your tissues, Grave Affairs follows stories of families honoring and mourning their deceased loved ones, and how it brings out the best and worst in them.
Total Runtime: 85 minutes
Mandarins | The Resemblance | The Van | Video Funeral | Take Me Home
All Shorts Program available on-demand in the U.S. from October 13, 7:30 PM until Monday, October 23, 2022, 12:00PM ET. The content must be started within the designated viewing window. Once started, you have up to 24 hrs. to finish playing the content or until the end of the viewing window – whichever comes first.
Mandarins
Directed by Chelsie Pennello
15 mins | English | Boston Premiere
A black sheep attempts to eulogize her mother with a story about pigeons.
The Resemblance
Directed by Derek Nguyen
15 mins | English
When a grieving couple goes to a “rental family” agency to hire an actor to role-play their dead son, they discover that their evening of remembrance is more than they bargained for.
The Van
Directed by Bernard Badion
20 mins | English, Filipino | East Coast Premiere
A son’s stubborn father refuses to move unless a broken down van comes with him.
Video Funeral
Directed by Linh Tran
20 mins | English
Lam, a Vietnamese international student, welcomes her younger sister, Phuong, to her Chicago apartment. Phuong brings a DVD of their father’s funeral, which Lam could not attend.
Advisory: Death and grief themes
Take Me Home
Directed by Liz Sargent
16 mins |English
Anna is an adult with an Cognitive Disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside.
Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. In this sadness, Anna sees the bigger picture and with a straightforward strength, Anna holds her own. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds.
