Interview, por Rafy Mediavilla, w/ “Perfume de Gardenias” Writer & Director, Macha Colón. #PerfumeDeGardenias #Tribeca2021 #TribecaFilmFestival
A dark comedy that captures the idiosyncrasies and spirit of a nation adept at creating novel strategies for laughter in the face of adversity, the film tells the story of Isabel—played by veteran theater and television actress Luz María Rondón in her first movie-starring role—an elderly woman living in a middle-class neighborhood in Puerto Rico, who has just become a widow after having cared for her husband until his last breaths. However, her recent loss becomes a blessing when she crafts a beautiful custom-made funeral for him that catches the attention of Toña (Sharon Riley), a pious but domineering woman who involves herself in local funerals.
Toña is the self-appointed leader of a coterie of church ladies elderly, and she enlists Isabel to put her unusual talents to good use and design custom, idiosyncratic funerals for her ailing neighbors. As Isabel agrees to perform this peculiar line of work—offering seniors a chance to dictate how their lives should be honored, before they die—she also finds renewed purpose in her own life. Along the way, however, Isabel is forced to question her own beliefs, as well as her relationship with both life and death.
