Documentary examines “green” burial
The Downing Film Center will present a screening of the film A Will for the Woods at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Amy Cunningham, a New York State licensed funeral director who is passionate about creating highly individualized services.
In the film, musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma, determined that his last act will be a gift to the planet. Facing his mortality, Clark and his partner have joined with a compassionate local cemeterian to use green burial to save a North Carolina woods from being clear-cut.
Green burial is a natural alternative to resource-intensive contemporary burial or cremation. The deceased is laid to rest in the earth using biodegradable materials and without a vault or toxic embalming, in a woodland or other natural setting. Simple natural burials were prevalent for thousands of years (and still are in parts of the world, including traditional Muslim and Jewish burials) before the contemporary funeral industry propagated the standard of elaborate funerals divorced from natural processes.
Tickets are: general admission $8.50; seniors and students $7; children and members $6. Doors open one half hour before screening. Call 845-561-3686 and leave a message if necessary. Tickets may be purchased at the box office or at downingfilmcenter.com. The Downing Film Center is located at 19 Front St., in Newburgh.
Photo courtesy of The Downing
