Almost Heaven
Almost Heaven by Carol Salter
GBR 2017, Generation
© Rocksalt Films / Carol Salter
Almost Heaven by Carol Salter
GBR 2017, Generation
© Rocksalt Films / Carol Salter
Almost Heaven by Carol Salter
GBR 2017, Generation
© Rocksalt Films / Carol Salter
Ying Ling delicately washes the face of the motionless body. Using a damp cloth, she carefully cleans the hands, feet and finally the torso. The 17-year-old girl is far from home, preparing for her exams at one of China's largest funeral parlours. At a respectful distance, the film documents Ying Ling's doubts and anxieties as she shares the intimate moments of a final farewell. It conveys her fear of the spirits that might be lurking in the long corridors of the crematorium, but also the playful camaraderie with her colleague, with whom she is gradually developing close friendship. A story of approaching adulthood among the spirits and the dead in a time when rapid development is overtaking age-old traditions.
Crew
| Written and Directed by | Carol Salter |
| Cinematography | Carol Salter |
| Editing | Cinzia Baldessari, Hoping Chen, Rodrigo Saquel |
| Music | Terence Dunn |
| Sound Design | Raoul Brand |
| Sound Mixing | Peter Hodges |
| Producers | Carol Salter, Elhum Shakerifar, Heike Bachelier, Cinzia Baldessari |
Produced by
Rocksalt films
Postcode Films
Carol Salter
The director of the British film in 14plus.
Almost Heaven · Generation · Feb 15, 2017
Elhum Shakerifa
The producer in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
Almost Heaven · Generation · Feb 15, 2017
Carol Salter
A documentary filmmaker who specialises in making intimate portraits of extraordinary people in other cultures, her films have screened at many international film festivals and have won numerous awards. Having studied at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK she worked for eight years as an in-house producer and director for the NGO Oxfam. She has also edited numerous films and was consulting editor on Andy Heathcote’s and Heike Bachelier’s The Moo Man which screened in the Berlinale Culinary Cinema section in 2013.
Filmography (selection)
2007 Mayomi 2011 Unearthing the Pen; short documentary 2017 Almost Heaven
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017