95 minutes / Color
French / English subtitles
Release: 2007
Copyright: 2006
Through a leisurely tour of the world-famous Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, the final resting place for legendary writers, composers, painters and other artists from around the world, FOREVER provides an unusually poignant, emotionally powerful meditation on relations between the living and the dead, and the immortal power of art.
During its visits to many famous graves-including those of Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust, Guillaume Apollinaire, Amadeo Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Jean-Auguste Ingres, Maria Callas, Georges Méliès, Jim Morrison, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret-FOREVER also introduces us to the Parisians and tourists who make pilgrimages to these tombs, whether to pay their respects, leave flowers or personal messages, or even to tend to the upkeep of the tombstones. The film also pays moving tribute to talented young artists who died prematurely as well as to the less celebrated deceased remembered primarily by next of kin.
Visitors to the Père-Lachaise, including foreign tourists, a cemetery tour guide, a historian, a pianist, an illustrator, and an embalmer, share fascinating anecdotes about the deceased, and relate personal stories about the significance of the artists' work in their lives. In addition to these unusually moving interviews, FOREVER features highlights of the inspirational work of many of these renowned artists-from Callas singing "Tosca" and excerpts from the films of Méliès and Signoret to the music of Chopin, the writings of Wilde and Proust, and the paintings of Ingres and Modigliani-and demonstrates how their art has inspired and is commemorated by their devotees.
Honigmann's own artistry is also on display here, including a poetic cinematic style that conveys the melancholy beauty of the cemetery's memorial statuary and tombstones, and her ability to elicit surprisingly intimate human-interest stories from those she encounters. As a result, FOREVER will provide every viewer the opportunity to reflect on the transcendental importance of art in our lives, on our need to commune with the spirits of the departed, and perhaps on our own mortality as well.
"Exquisite! … How can a film about a graveyard contain so much life?... FOREVER is ultimately a meditation on the human condition and how, in the midst of grief and loss, we manage to create fragile, piercing joys." —Tom Beer, Time Out New York
"This is no somber doc about death. In exploring the life-changing, death-defying power of beauty, FOREVER turns out to be a fascinating, beautiful meditation on art." —Kelly Jane Torrance, The Washington Times
"Mesmerizing… one of [Honigmann's] most accomplished and expressive works." —Deborah Young, Variety
"Swaddled in an array of sumptuous images, the personal stories she elicits, without a hint of mawkishness or condescension, combine with impromptu musical or poetic performances… to create a rich fabric of historical reference and cross-cultural identification." —Paul Arthur, Film Comment
Select Accolades
Roving the city of Lima, Peru, Heddy Honigmann meets teachers, actors, professionals, civil servants and many others who have turned to taxi driving to earn enough to get by.
Heddy Honigmann | 2007 | 80 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles
A celebration of Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade's sensual vision.
Heddy Honigmann | 2007 | 76 minutes | Color | English subtitles
Heddy Honigmann's latest film focuses on Peru's capital city of Lima, revealing the contrasts of wealth and poverty, and how its poorest citizens have survived decades of economic crisis and corruption.
Heddy Honigmann | 2009 | 93 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles
Documentary profile of musicians who play on the sidewalks of Paris and in the Metro.
Heddy Honigmann | 1999 | 108 minutes | Color | French; Spanish | English subtitles
