Varanasi is the Indian city where Hindus go to die. Stretching along the Ganges, Varanasi holds great spiritual significance because Hindu scriptutres say that anyone who dies there will attain moksha—liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Berlin-based director Dan Braga Ulvestad captures life and death in India’s heartland in this moving documentary filled with exquisite cinematic moments. By the River starts its narrative journey with the city’s “death hotels,” dedicated apartments where people wait to die, sometimes for decades, so they can be cremated on the banks of the Ganges.
Unfortunately the movie By the River is not yet available on HBO Max.
Directing | Dan Braga Ulvestad | Director |
Production | Charu Menon | Producer |
Camera | Caleb Ware | Director of Photography |
Editing | Andrew Holmes | Editor |
Editing | Elvis Colour | Colorist |
Production | Jamie Watson | Executive Producer |
Production | Will Alexander | Executive Producer |
Editing | Dan Braga Ulvestad | Editor |
Editing | Greg Constantaras | Colorist |
Editing | Adrian Maurici | Assistant Editor |
Production | Siddharth Bhavnani | Line Producer |
Production | Neha Gowda | Production Manager |
Camera | Esteban Rivera | Assistant Camera |
Sound | Dustin Lau | Music Score Producer |
Sound | Rubin Henkel | Sound Designer |