The Burial Society

The Chevrah Kadisha (a traditional Jewish burial society, in which elders prepare bodies for interment as a sacred duty to their community) is not your average backdrop for a seriocomic caper movie, but it imbues this offbeat Jewish noir with a unique gravity. It's a bit unusual that Sheldon (Rob LaBelle), a thirty-something schlemiel of an accountant, wants to join a Chevrah Kadisha, but the tough old foxes of the group (Jan Rubes, Allan Rich, and Bill Meilen) decide to give him a chance. Then, two million bucks turn up missing from Sheldon's former employer. Where's the money? Why were two thugs dangling him off a bridge? What does this have to do with a traditional Jewish spiritual practice? Why was the Mafia kingpin (Seymour Cassel) so unhappy to meet Sheldon? And why is Sherman's brother the only person he can trust? Canadian director Nicholas Racz has taken the little-seen world of the Jewish burial society and plunked a quirky, well-woven murder mystery-complete with Jewish Mafia thugs, devious detectives, and nervous breakdowns-right in the middle of it. It's a treat. Beautifully shot, tightly edited and darkly funny.

Nicholas Racz has a longstanding dedication to visual media. An award winning commercial director and Telefilm Canada/Director's Guild of Canada KickStart Short Film Award recipient, THE BURIAL SOCIETY is Racz's first feature film. With a proven track record in the commercial world, Racz has been developing THE BURIAL SOCIETY with producer Richard Baumgartel for over eight years. As well, Racz directed and wrote The Real Thing (Comedy Network), and The Hungarian Revelation (The Big Little Picture Company) which won the Telefilm Canada/Directors’ Guild of Canada KickStart Short Film Award. He also wrote the award-winning documentary Ozone and the Politics of Medicine (The National Film Board of Canada), which won The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Special Selection as Best Informative Documentary (1994). Nicholas Racz has a number of journalistic awards to his name as well as many credits for television. Racz is currently working on another feature film entitled The Canyon.