Saturdays are for the dead (2006)

South Africa: forty-six million inhabitants, of whom over six million have AIDS. And infection increases every day. The film, following Elizabeth and Bafana in their daily work, documents this tragedy from an unusual point of view, that of the undertakers who work constantly to cope with the hundreds of funerals held every week in the monumental Avalon Cemetery of Soweto, which gets bigger and bigger.

For more information on Lies Niezen : click here (MovieWorks).

Awarded "Best African Documentary" at 17° Festival del Cinema Africano, d’Asia e America Latina, Milan - Italy, March 2007.

The Official Jury of the AFRICAN DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION with members:
Laurène Mansuy – Head of Programming, Arte – Francia – president
Cara Longo- Manager of Programming Acquisitions, Sundance Channel – USA
has decided to award the FNAC Award for the Best African Documentary, of Euro 5000, to:
"Saturdays are for the Dead" by Lee Ann Cotton and Lies Niezen (South Africa/The Netherlands)
This effective and committed documentary shows us the devastating effects of AIDS in southern Africa, though an intimate portrait of the undertakers: it is tragic, courageous, pitiless and educational at one and the same time.

'Saturdays are for the dead' is a co-production of Selfmade Films with VPRO. This documentary is made with the support of the Dutch Cultural Media Fund.