The Last Rites

Asian funerals are more than just status symbols for the living and deceased The rituals also reveal secrets of what a culture cherishes in life values attitudes and beliefs This twopart documentary examines sweet sacred and shocking traditional Asian funeral practices

Meet the people whose lives and livelihoods revolve around the business of grief Professional mourners act as cheerleaders for the dead in Taiwan At the same time a community in the Indonesian highlands performs unusual death rites where the dead live on as part of the mourning process