Children of the Pyre | |
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Directed by | Rajesh S. Jala |
Produced by | Rajesh S. Jala |
Cinematography | Rajesh S. Jala |
Release date |
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Running time | 74 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | US$250,000 |
Children of the Pyre (Ta paidia tis pyras) is a 2008 film documentary directed and produced by Rajesh S. Jala. The film documents the stories of seven children who cremate dead bodies and steal cremation shrouds at India's largest crematorium, Manikarnika, on the banks of the Ganges. [1] Jala, also the cinematographer, shot over 100 hours of footage at the crematorium and surrounding sites, including candid interviews with the seven children described in the film, who discuss their difficult life cremating dead bodies and stealing shrouds from the bodies brought to the crematorium and reselling them to merchants for a nominal fee. [2] In 2009, the filmmaker launched a project to improve the lives of the 300 children working at the crematorium. [3]
The film was awarded "Best Documentary" at the 2008 Montréal World Film Festival, 2008 São Paulo International Film Festival, 2008 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, 2009 Asiatica Film Mediale, 2009 IDPA, and the "Silver Lotus Award" for "Best Audiography" at the 56th National Film Awards. [4]
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.
Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning.
A pyre, also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire.
Shyam Benegal is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received several accolades, including eighteen National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award and a Nandi Award. In 2005, he was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in the field of cinema. In 1976, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour of the country, and in 1991, he was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour for his contributions in the field of arts. He is currently 90 years old.
Antyesti, also known as Antima Samskara, Antya-kriya, Anvarohanyya, or as Vahni Samskara, literally means "last sacrifice" or "final auspicious ceremony", and refers to the funeral rites for the dead in Hinduism, which usually involves cremation of the body. This rite of passage is the last samskara in a series of traditional life cycle samskaras that start from conception in Hindu tradition.
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles(IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and diverse culture by providing the public with a selection of films from and about the Indian diaspora by Indian and international filmmakers.
Deaths in Singapore offset the population increase from live births. In 2007, 17,140 people in Singapore died from various causes. The death rate was 4.5 deaths per 1,000 of the population. There are strict regulations surrounding death and treatment of the body after death.
The Indonesian Film Festival is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. During the festival, the Citra Awards winners are announced and the best Indonesian films of the year are presented.
A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator, a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also be a venue for open-air cremation. In many countries, crematoria contain facilities for funeral ceremonies, such as a chapel. Some crematoria also incorporate a columbarium, a place for interring cremation ashes.
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C.U. Burn is a cult Irish language television comedy broadcast on the Irish-language television channel Teilifís na Gaeilge. It tells the tales of the County Donegal undertakers Charlie and Vincie Burn who run a turf-fueled crematorium. They are rivalled by another group of more professional undertakers led by Frank Doyle. The show revolves around the cunning Charlie Burn whose ruthless pursuit of business often leads to much chaos while his long-suffering brother Vincie Burn simply requests a quiet life. Pádraig assists at the crematorium and Pádraig's sister Máiréad is the recurring love interest of Charlie.
The Cremation Act 1902 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The major purpose of the Act was to allow burial authorities to establish crematoria. Later revisions of the Act outlawed open air cremations using funeral pyres, although in 2010 the Court of Appeal ruled this practice to be legal under certain circumstances.
Brett Gaylor is a Canadian documentary filmmaker living in Victoria, British Columbia. He grew up on Galiano Island, British Columbia. He was formerly the VP of Mozilla's Webmaker Program. His documentary, Do Not Track, explores privacy and the web economy.
Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery.
The Cremator is a 1969 Czechoslovak dark comedy horror film directed by Juraj Herz, based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks. The screenplay was written by Herz and Fuks. The film was selected as the Czechoslovakian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not nominated. In 1972, it won the Festival de Cine de Sitges Best Film award, where it also received awards for its star Rudolf Hrušínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota.
A shmashana is a Hindu crematory ground, where dead bodies are brought to be burnt on a pyre. It is usually located near a river or body of water on the outskirts of a village or town; as they are usually located near river ghats, they are also regionally called smashan ghats.
Rajesh S. Jala is a documentary filmmaker born in Kashmir in the 1970s who has been making films since his first short work with Tassaduq Hussain in 1996.
Thai royal funerals are elaborate events, organised as royal ceremonies akin to state funerals. They are held for deceased members of the royal family, and consist of numerous rituals which typically span several months to over a year. Featuring a mixture of Buddhist and animist beliefs, as well as Hindu symbolism, these rituals include the initial rites that take place after death, a lengthy period of lying-in-state, during which Buddhist ceremonies take place, and a final cremation ceremony. For the highest-ranking royalty, the cremation ceremonies are grand public spectacles, featuring the pageantry of large funeral processions and ornate purpose-built funeral pyres or temporary crematoria known as merumat or men. The practices date to at least the 17th century, during the time of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Today, the cremation ceremonies are held in the royal field of Sanam Luang in the historic centre of Bangkok.