Perfume de Gardenias
Director: Macha Colón
Puerto Rico | 2022 | Spanish with English subtitles | 97 min
View IN-PERSON at The Cinematheque: Saturday, Aug 27, 2:30pm and Sunday, Sept 3, 9:00pm
Director Macha Colón in attendance for the Sunday evening screening!
After an elderly Puerto Rican widow crafts a beautiful custom-made funeral for her husband, she gets enlisted to put her unusual talents to design customized, idiosyncratic funerals for her ailing neighbours.
Macha Colón’s Perfume de Gardenias endearingly foregrounds nuanced older characters—that we typically don’t see as protagonists—within a colorful and dynamic narrative, bolstered by darkly comedic humor and an authentic depiction of Puerto Rican culture and generational differences. With infectious energy, Colon’s feature directorial debut explores grief and death in a refreshingly candid manner, and delivers whimsical storytelling that is both lively and poignant. —José Rodríguez, Tribeca Film Festival
Después de que una anciana viuda puertorriqueña elabora un hermoso funeral personalizado para su esposo, se alista para poner sus talentos inusuales en el diseño de funerales personalizados e idiosincrásicos para sus vecinos enfermos.
Macha Colón
Gisela Rosario Ramos is Macha Colón, an un-disciplined queer artist currently based in Puerto Rico. She’s a writer, producer, director, editor, performer, and cultural events producer. Among her work are the short documentaries El hijo de Ruby and Cartas de amor para una ícona. Perfume de Gardenias is her first feature film.