The Burial of the Sardine

About the film

In 18th-century Madrid, King Charles III gifted a shipment of sardines to the people, but the fish arrived spoiled in the midday heat. To cleanse the city, the citizens buried them on Ash Wednesday in a mock carnival funeral—a chaotic, cathartic celebration that became tradition. Set in a surreal, cyberpunk alternative world, this is a queer r- imagining of that ritual: a farewell to lost joy and silenced freedom, and an enduring prayer for its rebirth from the ashes.