Documentary backdrop image for Balinese Requiem (1992)

Documentary backdrop image for Balinese Requiem (1992)

199263 minGdocumentary

Balinese Requiem

199263 minGdocumentary

Enormous burning pyres shaped like bulls fill the village with smoke during elaborate cremation ceremonies that blend festivity with solemnity.

Genres

Director

Synopsis

Enormous burning pyres shaped like bulls fill the village with smoke during elaborate cremation ceremonies that blend festivity with solemnity.

People

Yasuhiro Omoridirector

Synopsis

In a Balinese village, families prepare for an elaborate cremation ceremony. They arrange offerings of money and symbolic baskets for the deceased while providing special foods for mourners. The atmosphere is festive, featuring shadow puppet shows and musical processions. As bones are washed and arranged for cremation, prayers accompany the rites. Enormous pyres shaped like bulls fill the village with smoke, cleansing the souls of the dead before they are sent out to sea. Shot in 16mm, the film documents these intricate funeral rites and Balinese-Hindu beliefs about death.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

Jagal: The Act of Killing (2012)

Jagal: The Act of Killing

2012•1h57m•★7.7TMDB

In a country where killers are heroes, death squad leader Anwar Congo and his friends reenact their roles in the 1965–66 Indonesian genocide. “I have not come across a documentary as powerful, surreal, and frightening in a decade.” - Werner Herzog

Jagal: The Act of Killing

Bali's highland village keeps the deceased above ground (2026)

Bali's highland village keeps the deceased above ground

In Trunyan, the dead are neither burned nor buried but are placed beneath a sacred tree, reflecting the village's unique funerary traditions.

Bali's highland village keeps the deceased above ground

A Fire Dance Of Grief And Memory: How The Kaluli People Honor Their Dead (2026)

A Fire Dance Of Grief And Memory: How The Kaluli People Honor Their Dead

Kaluli people honor their deceased through the Koluba ceremony, where fire dancers express grief and memory using elements from their lush jungle environment.

A Fire Dance Of Grief And Memory: How The Kaluli People Honor Their Dead

Are there ghosts of Sulawesi? It's time to find out (2020)

Are there ghosts of Sulawesi? It's time to find out

Over 2,000 guests gather for a Toraja funeral, where families must organize elaborate ceremonies and sacrifice more than 40 buffalo to honor the deceased.

Are there ghosts of Sulawesi? It's time to find out

Madagascan Christians Dig Up The Dead (2016)

Madagascan Christians Dig Up The Dead

Madagascan Christians celebrate the Famadiha festival, where exhumed corpses are joyfully paraded, reflecting their unique beliefs about life, death, and ancestral connection.

Madagascan Christians Dig Up The Dead

One of the most mysterious documentaries to watch: Discover Indonesia and the Ghosts of Sulawesi (2022)

One of the most mysterious documentaries to watch: Discover Indonesia and the Ghosts of Sulawesi

Sulawesi's funeral traditions highlight Indonesia's unique cultural practices, showcasing vibrant celebrations of life alongside the emotional complexities of animal sacrifice.

One of the most mysterious documentaries to watch: Discover Indonesia and the Ghosts of Sulawesi

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead (2026)

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead

In Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Toraja community maintains their ancestral traditions through the construction of Tongkonan houses, which embody their cosmology and rituals surrounding life and death.

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead

Bali's Killing Fields - Indonesia (2008)

Bali's Killing Fields - Indonesia

Current estimates put the number of nesting female green sea turtles at just a few hundred worldwide, as they face extinction from hunting and habitat loss.

Bali's Killing Fields - Indonesia

Bali First - Indonesia (2008)

Bali First - Indonesia

Bali's society faces significant upheaval following the bombings, sparking a political movement that signals a shift towards major change.

Bali First - Indonesia

The society in which the living coexist with the dead: the story of the Ghosts of Sulawesi (2022)

The society in which the living coexist with the dead: the story of the Ghosts of Sulawesi

Over 40 buffalo are sacrificed during elaborate funeral rites in a small village in Sulawesi, marking the return of the deceased to their ancestors.

The society in which the living coexist with the dead: the story of the Ghosts of Sulawesi

Explore Balinese Requiem

Browse more like this

Jagal: The Act of Killing (2012)

Jagal: The Act of Killing

2012•1h57m•★7.7TMDB

In a country where killers are heroes, death squad leader Anwar Congo and his friends reenact their roles in the 1965–66 Indonesian genocide. “I have not come across a documentary as powerful, surreal, and frightening in a decade.” - Werner Herzog

Jagal: The Act of Killing

No digital watch option in your country

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead (2026)

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead

In Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Toraja community maintains their ancestral traditions through the construction of Tongkonan houses, which embody their cosmology and rituals surrounding life and death.

The Toraja: Houses for the Living and the Dead

No digital watch option in your country

A Balinese Trance Seance (1981)

A Balinese Trance Seance

1981•30m•★7.0TMDB

Five offerings of rice, flowers, and woven coconut leaves are presented to Jero Tapakan as clients seek answers about their son's death during a trance seance.

A Balinese Trance Seance

Bridewealth for a Goddess (2000)

Bridewealth for a Goddess

2000•1h12m•★8.0TMDB

Fifteen years of filming capture the last performance of a ritual dedicated to the fertility goddess Amb Kor in Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands Province.

Bridewealth for a Goddess

The Feast in Dream Village (1988)

The Feast in Dream Village

A week of offerings, dancing, and oratory takes place in a village on Sumba Island to restore fertility after a fire and famine.

The Feast in Dream Village

Company (2019)

Company

2019•1h1m•★10.0TMDB

During the festival of the dead in a Bolivian mountain village, voices of the departed create a connection between the past and present.

Children of the Pyre (2008)

Children of the Pyre

2008•1h14m•★5.7TMDB

Seven children work at the Manikarnika cremation ground in Banaras, India, assisting in the cremation process under extreme conditions.

Children of the Pyre

A Burning Star (1995)

A Burning Star

1995•1h35m•★5.0TMDB

Kenji Onishi documents the death and cremation of his father in Japan, exploring themes of grief, memory, and the transient nature of life.

Pelebon Ring Pandemi (2021)

Pelebon Ring Pandemi

A unique method of cremation, rarely used by Balinese people, is employed during the pandemic for a couple whose love story unfolds until death.

Pelebon Ring Pandemi

The Three Worlds of Bali (1981)

The Three Worlds of Bali

Gamelan music, wayang theater, and dance are integral to daily life on Bali, reflecting efforts to balance the realms of gods, demons, and humans.

The Three Worlds of Bali

Mrityubhoj: The Death Feast (2019)

Mrityubhoj: The Death Feast

A family in the Chambal district prepares for a death feast 13 days after their father's cremation, reflecting the practice's shift to a status symbol.

Mrityubhoj: The Death Feast

Sacred & Secret (2010)

Sacred & Secret

Bali's rich cultural landscape showcases ancient ceremonies and the concept of Karma Pala, emphasizing the importance of good actions for favorable rebirth.

Sacred & Secret

Browse more by Yasuhiro Omori

View all films →

A Shamanic Medium of Tsugaru (1992)

A Shamanic Medium of Tsugaru

1992

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →