In March 2024, on Qingming Festival, “New Weekly” updated a Weibo post titled “A Death Café Opens Next to a Funeral Home in Shanghai.” This café claims that its coffee is “given, not sold,” and visitors can exchange their stories for four flavors of coffee: sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. The café is run by post-90s staff, all of whom work in the funeral service industry.
These young individuals don’t come from traditional funeral companies; instead, they operate their own modern funeral cafés. They use the “Death Café” model to promote their innovative funeral concepts and services. The saying “Life and death are significant” is common in China, where death is often met with reverence and silence. In such a traditional industry, these young people employ unique methods to advocate for their new funeral ideas, offering customized funeral services and modern respect for the deceased. This café piqued my interest and inspired me to capture their real stories through film……
Directed by Haochen Jiang (China)