Latin American highlights - Clermont-Ferrand FF 2025: Servicio Necrologico Para Usted

Maria Salafranca’s film (titled Obituary Service For You in English) offers a tour of the funeral home in a small Cuban town led by Maurilio and Fidela, driver and assistant on duty, who have been preparing corpses for 17 years in the same space where they live their lives and their love.

A humorous and endearing portrait of a couple undertaking a skilful yet peculiar job.

Where did the idea for the film come from?

I originally wanted to make a film about Fidela’s job. She was a woman who had been working in a funeral home for over 17 years. But filming the deceased presented a real ethical conflict for me. So Fidela suggested that Maurilio, her husband and co-worker, could play the role of the dead person during the film. I found that idea fascinating and comical, and so I decided that would be the device I would use, that would set the tone of the film.

Can you tell us about the filming process and the location?

The filming took place over four nights at the funeral home in Bauta, a small town 30 kilometres from Havana. During the process, we didn’t use any script. Everything you see in the film are scenes and situations that I incorporated from the things I observed during the research and filming stages. The process was quite playful and full of humour for both Fidela and Maurilio, as well as for the whole team.

What obstacles did you face?

The main obstacle was combining filming with the daily life of an active funeral home. While we were filming, Maurilio and Fidela were still working, and the funeral home was open. It was also a challenge to make a low-budget film in a country where basic material conditions are not covered.

What is your career as a filmmaker?

I studied a Master’s degree and specialized in documentary film at the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños in Cuba. In my career, I have directed several short films that have played at various international festivals: "Negra Sombra" winner of the Gold Hugo Award for Best Documentary Short at the Chicago International Film Festival 2024, "Compañía" winner of Best Documentary Short at the Concordia Film Festival and Honorable Mention at the Santo Domingo Global Festival, "Cimientos" premiered at the Havana Film Festival and "Servicio necrológico para usted", which was premiered at Visions du Réel in 2024.

What stories would you like to tell next?

I want to continue filming and experimenting with different cinematic forms, based on seemingly simple and everyday stories and places that almost always hide an extraordinary side if you know how to observe them.

What do you like about the short format?

I think that the short is a format of cinematic expression that forces us to work with extraordinary precision as directors, and that is a wonderful challenge. It is also a format that allows for sustainability in our work as directors, since its form of production is usually more accessible and faster than that of a feature film.

What are your hopes for the festival?

I hope to be able to share a bit of the films we make from Cuba and Latin America, and also to learn about the work of other colleagues around the world. I hope that my time at the festival will help me to build networks that will allow me to continue filming my next projects.

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