The Lonely Funeral

A soulful and moving Dutch documentary about a civil servant working for the city of Amsterdam. He works with a professional poet to plans funerals for people who have died alone, bodies that were never claimed from the morgue. The two men are usually the only people in attendance. For the last several years these two colleagues and friends have learned what they could about the deceased from belongings left behind and given each forgotten soul their own 'Lonely Funeral.'

The Lonely Funeral was produced by Michele Ernsting for the Global Perspective series by Radio Netherlands Worldwide.