ASSIGNMENT

• Watch the 2013 film “Homegoings.” On the website, the film is described as follows:

“Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African-American funerals are brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City’s historic Harlem neighborhood, HOMEGOINGS takes an up-close look at the rarely seen world of undertaking in the black community, where funeral rites draw on a rich palette of tradition, history and celebration. Combining cinéma vérité with intimate interviews and archival photographs, the film paints a portrait of the dearly departed, their grieving families and a man who sends loved ones ‘home.’”

• After you have watched the film, write your report, making sure to answer the following questions in your report:
  • What are some of the views on and/or beliefs about death and dying you saw represented in the film? In what ways do you see these views reflecting what we have read/learned thus far in REL 334?
  • What death rituals did you learn about (or were you reminded of, if you are already familiar with them)? How do these rituals help us to see the ways that people help make meaning out of death and dying?
  • In what ways do you see some of the contemporary issues related to death and dying that Warraich outlines in the chapters from Modern Death we’ve read thus far appearing in the film?