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The Rest is Silence follows the journey of an anonymous, unclaimed body through its progress from discovery to cremation. The film's focus is not on the body, but on those who guide it through the necessary procedures and the rituals leading to its interment. The progression to a silent state of the person who is now a corpse and for whom all this work is carried out, is the core of the film. Without sensationalising, the film documents events through a series of significant moments that are revealing and poignant.
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The Rest is Silence is a film about the rituals we perform for our dead. Not just the religious rituals, but the secular ones also. This film uses the example of a body for which there is no next of kin.The significance of this is that even when the rituals are performed without the presence of those who they really benefit (the friends and family of the deceased), they are still carried out with as much reverence and care as they would be for anyone else. The film takes us into places where we would never normally be allowed while alive, and attempts to dispel many of the myths which surround these processes.
We produced this documentary following the topic of 'silence'. Andrew wanted to follow the progress of a body on its journey from discovery to cremation, focusing on the people dealing with the body.
The documentary was chosen from over 100 submissions by the 'Bridging the Gap' panel: a scheme supported by the Scottish Screen National Lottery Fund and The Scottish Documentary Institute.
One of the biggest challenges was to gain access to areas not normally open to the general public including a post-mortem room and a crematorium. We were aware of the sensitivity of our task and spent many weeks in pre-production setting up meetings with all the organisations relevant to our film - the Police, the Council, the Medical School, the Mortuary, the Crematorium and the Procurator Fiscal.
It was important for us to emphasise to each organisation at every meeting that the identity of the body would remain anonymous at all times, as our main focus was on the people carrying out their work and the processes involved.
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- director Andrew Henderson
- producer Robin Mitchell & Jim Hickey
- editor Roddy Simpson
- director of photography Andrew Begg
- sound Des Henron
- music Matt Hulse & Katy Jones
executive producer Noe Mendelle
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BAFTA Scotland 2005 - Nominated for Best First Time Director
Fife Film Festival 2006
Real Life on Film, Australia 2006
Celtic Film & Television Festival 2006, UK - Winner of Frank Copplestone Award for Best First Time Director
Silverdocs: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, USA 2006
Huesca International Film festival, Spain - Nominated in European Documentary Selection
DokumentART EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL, Germany 2006
Edinburgh International Film Festival, Industry Screening 2005
© 2005 Andrew Henderson
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funding
A Bridging the Gap production supported by the Scottish Screen National Lottery Fund, Scottish Enterprise, Angus Digital Media Centre, Docspace and Edinburgh College of Art.
production company
Cadies Production Ltd.
film network submission
This film was chosen by the Film Network team through our online submissions process.
more shorts with similar themes
This film is included in the film catalogue under the following themes:
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