This stylish 1957 film explores mortality and memory on Mexico’s Day of the Dead

Taking place between October 31 and November 2 each year, Mexico’s Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, shares many symbols with the now widespread celebration of Halloween, but the cultural significance for its practitioners goes beyond costumes, candy and frights. Created in 1957 by the iconic husband-and-wife design team Charles and Ray Eames for the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Day of the Dead uses enchanting still and moving images to explore Mexico’s distinctive relationship with death, and its powerful traditions.

©1957 Eames Office LLC. Used by permission of the Eames Office. All rights reserved.