El Funeral: Film Screening & Director Talk (01.25.24)
Join us on Thursday, January 25, at 5 PM, at the Rajen Kilachand Center for Life Sciences & Engineering, 610 Commonwealth Avenue, for a private screening of El Funeral, a short film by Sofía Blanco about two Venezuelan-born siblings residing in New York who are unable to physically attend their grandfather’s funeral due to the collapse of their home country and must therefore attend online. The screening will be followed by a conversation, led by Tijana Cupic, PhD candidate in Romance Studies.
Synopsis:
In New York City, two Venezuelan-American siblings prepare for their grandfather’s funeral in Venezuela, but from a distance. Because each sibling has a turbulent relationship with their home country, they must find new ways of understanding each other, their past, and their ancestors, as they re-contextualize distant memories in a new environment.
About the Director:
Sofía Blanco was born November 1st, 1991 in Caracas, Venezuela. She moved to Boston, Massachusetts at the age of 9 in 2001, where she finished schooling through High School. She then continued to New York to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies at Columbia University. She currently works as an Assistant Director in the DGA for feature films such as Master, and She Said, and television series such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Reservation Dogs. El Funeral is her debut film as a director.
Director’s statement:
“Having migrated at an early age from my home country Venezuela in 2001, I was within one of the first waves of an enormous diaspora of millions of people. From abroad, I watched as all of my friends and most of my family left the place we all used to call home. Every single immigrant has a story. Every person relates differently to their past and their home, everyone relates to their new environments in distinct ways. I want to tell these stories, I want to show the nuanced ways in which our memories materialize and shape our present.”
This private screening is open to members of the BU community (faculty, staff, students) or by invitation.
