Synopsis
After years of caring for her bedridden husband, Isabel widows. Her days feel empty so she agrees to help her neighbor Toña decorate the carpenter's funeral. Heartfelt creativity is required to make the raw wooden coffin his family could afford look a little gloomy. Isabel uses elements from the carpenter's workshop, from sawdust to a jigsaw on top of the coffin. Although not everyone likes her proposal, Isabel continues to decorate other funerals cheered by Toña.
With each deceased her creativity blossoms, incorporating details from their life stories to celebrate them in their funeral rites. One d their funeral rites. One day, Toña confesses that she assists the sick in their transition to die and Isabel recoils at the thought of such behaviour. She hides from Toña while taking care of her neighbor who has terminal cancer. But her neighbor is now ready to die, she asks Isabel for one last favor. Isabel says no until she understands that in nature some things must die for others to bloom.
About
PERFUME DE GARDENIAS is a Caribbean story on the universal theme of death in a film created by a mostly female production team. The film's visuals, which include colorful and unusual installations - funerals, have been worked in an unconventional way by a team of artists from different art disciplines. This is a film that pays homage to all the mothers who care for Puerto Rican families. The project, which is a co-production with Colombia, is conceived as an inter-multidisciplinary artistic proposal (including other performatic components) as is the work of its writer and director, Macha Colón.
Crew
Macha Colón
Director
Gisela Rosario Ramos
Screenwriter / Producer
Arleen Cruz Alicea
Producer
Consuelo Castillo
Co-Producer (Colombia)
Adriana Ángel
Co-Producer (Colombia)
PJ López, SPC
Director of Photography
Suzanne Krim / Josie Minguela / Juan Fernando Morales / Alejandro Cirilo / Guarionex Morales
Círculo Perfumado (Equipo Propuesta Estética)
Círculo Perfumado [Scented Circle]
Juan Soto Taboada
Editor
Guarionex Morales
Music Composer
Suzanne Krim
Wardrobe Designer
Ybeka Hurtado
Makeup & Hair