Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Día de Los Muertos 2023
Film Screening on 1st November at 1pm in ORB 1.24
On 1st November at 1pm in ORB1.24, the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies together with the Violence, Conflict and Gender research cluster welcome you to a premiere screening of Crisálida (Chrysalis), a short documentary about the Day of the Dead, death, loss and transformation during the Covid pandemic and beyond, as told by three women, Cecilia Gamez, Emily Wood Ramirez Ahmed and Elisa Ponce from different Mexican communities in Cork, Bournemouth and London. Information on the project related to this film, of which Professor Nuala Finnegan is co-PI, is below the poster.
Following the screening, Dr Nadia Albaladejo of SPLAS will be in conversation with Cecilia Gamez, who will share her experience of participating in the making of the film and what the project means to her, as we celebrate el Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead together.
Teas and coffees will be supplied by SPLAS and all are welcome.
Can death still be celebrated in the middle of a global pandemic?
These are some of the questions explored by academics, Jane Lavery and Nuala Finnegan in their research which forms the inspiration for the film, Crisálida. The project shows how Día de Muertos can activate healing, creativity, proactive citizenship, community shared values, and regeneration in post pandemic times. It asks whether Day of the Dead offers a window into a different kind of encounter with death, one that can perhaps help us as we negotiate the future in such uncertain times. Funded by University College Cork and the University of Southampton and generously supported by the Mexican Embassy in the UK.
Crisálida| Premiere of short documentary
Crisálida (Chrysalis) is a moving story about the Day of the Dead, death, loss and transformation during the Covid pandemic and beyond, as told by three women, Cecilia Gamez, Emily Wood Ramirez Ahmed and Elisa Ponce from different Mexican communities in Cork, Bournemouth and London. A co-production by award-winning film makers Steph Beeston, Tom Price; and academics Dr Jane Lavery, Associate Professor at Southampton University and Professor Nuala Finnegan, University College Cork.