The Man on the Mortuary Table
USA, 15m, Digital
A lonely embalmer discovers a renewed sense of life when he finds his dead doppelgänger on his mortuary table.
Writer/Director: Omar Kakar
Co-Writer: David Mar Stefansson
Producer: Arlene Fernandez, Jennifer Kaiser, Stephanie Falkeis
Co-Producer: Jennifer Kaiser
Director of Photography: Andrea Gavazzi
Editor: Omar Kakar
Casting Director: Stephanie Falkeis
Cast: Brandon DeSpain, Abbey Dubin, Kelly Fairbrother, C.J. Gelfand, Peter Carellini, David Whitman
Contact: Arlene Fernandez, af2917@columbia.edu
Jack Larson Award for Collaboration
About the Writer/Director
Omar Kakar is an architect-turned-filmmaker, first-generation American from a family fleeing conflict in Afghanistan, New York-born and Southern California-raised. Earned his B.Arch degree, created a startup architecture studio in San Diego, then shifted to “cinema-tecture” and moved to NYC to attend Columbia University...and eat pizza.
About the Co-Writer
As well as having a BA in Philosophy and Creative Writing, David Mar Stefansson was a journalist in Iceland before pursuing Screenwriting. A Leifur Eiríksson Fellow and the Television Academy’s Drama Intern of 2017, he’s graduating from Columbia University's Film MFA as a TV Writing concentrate.
About the Producer
Arlene Fernandez, a Nuyorican, earned an MFA in Film from Columbia University. Her experience includes regional producer/North America at Unilever, executive producer at Spike Lee’s Ad Agency and senior on-air producer at The Cartoon Network. Her first short, Shepherds, screened at various festivals.
