Facing East Releases March 17
Everyone knows moving graves is a bad idea in horror movies…you’ll always get cursed, or haunted by vengeful ghosts. If you try it in real life…you probably won’t be chased by spirits, but it’s still a scummy thing to do.
The new documentary Facing East, to be released next month by Uncork’d, delves into one of the worst disturbed burial incidents in American history. Eastern Cemetery was a joint project between two churches back in the 19th century, but soon fell into corrupt hands that saw no reason not to….re-use burial plots over and over. They could sell them at a discount, taking advantage of the poor, and who would tell on them, the dead?
It’s only in recent years, now that the cemetery has been abandoned, that the misdeeds of the past were discovered and an effort to undo the damage was started. Friends of Eastern Cemetery was formed, dedicated to identifying the scattered bones and providing peace to living relatives.
Uncork’d will be bringing Facing East, directed by Tommy Baker, to VOD platforms March 17.
With over 100,000 documented disturbed burials the owners and operators of Eastern Cemetery systematically re-used graves over and over, taking advantage of low-income families during one of the most difficult times in their lives. 25 years after the cemetery was left abandoned, the Friends of Eastern Cemetery was formed to provide care and upkeep that the burial grounds so desperately needed.