By the River

Stretching along the river Ganges rests Varanasi, the holiest of India’s seven sacred cities, and a place where devout Hindus go to die in hopes of achieving moksha - becoming liberated from the cycle of rebirth. Hindu scriptures say that a soul has to undergo 8.4 million rebirths before reaching the human form, the only form one can attain moksha, and dying in Varanasi and being cremated along the banks of the river is believed to be the ideal way of achieving this. Several so-called ‘death hotels’ exist to accommodate believers who abandon their lives and come here in wait for death - some for as long as 40 years.

Director: Dan Braga Ulvestad
Producer: Charu Menon 
DOP: Caleb Ware

In association with Heckler
Executive Producers: Charu Menon, Jamie Watson & Will Alexander
Editor: Andrew Holmes & Dan Braga Ulvestad
Colourist: Greg Constantaras
Assistant Editor: Adrian Maurici

Production Company (India): ShotReady Productions
Line Producer (India): Siddharth Bhavnani
Production Manager (India) Neha Gowda
Assistant Camera: Esteban Rivera
Original Music Score: Dustin Lau
Sound Design: Rubin Henkel & Nylon Studios
Re-Recording Mixer: Casimir von Oettingen