19Mar
Elizabeth is Missing
The opening scenes in Elizabeth Is Missing are a master class in concise character development.
Dementia/Alzheimer’s
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11Nov
The Mole Agent
Have you ever wished to be a “fly on the wall” in a residential care facility so you could observe the kind of care being given to a family member, or just to see the kind of dynamic being played out between residents and staff? Watching The Mole Agent will give you a sense of what that would be like.
29Mar
Head Full of Honey
Many contemporary films that deal with dementia focus on the role of the caregiver and the complex issues involved in supporting a family member living with dementia. Head Full of Honey falls into this category, but is unusual in having a youthful protagonist in the central caring role.
11Mar
The Story of Shadow and Light: Giving Voice to an Alzheimer’s Journey
Who would have thought that the experience of living with Alzheimer’s could be set to music? In Eugene, Oregon a music conductor, Diane Retallack, having experienced two generations of dementia in her family, knew that there could be great value in bringing a musically artistic expression to that experience.
11Feb
Alive Inside: Reprise
Perhaps the greatest power of documentary film is its ability to reveal to us experiences, feelings, and events that might have otherwise remained beyond our awareness and our imagination. Two years ago in this space ( Scheidt, 2013 ), I reviewed a brief version of “Alive Inside,” a video by Michael Rossato-Bennett.
31Jan
You See Me
The premise of this interesting and multilayered film is revealed at the outset: Videographer Linda Brown created You See Me (http://youseememovie.com/) in hopes of achieving a better understanding of her father, Stanley Brown, a man she loved but “wonder if I ever really knew.”
31Jan
I Remember Better When I Paint
I Remember Better When I Paint is perhaps the most important documentary to date dealing with our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the nearly 47 million persons worldwide currently afflicted with dementia. It should be required viewing of every gerontology educator and practitioner, regardless of years in rank.
31Jan
There is a Place
There Is a Place is a brief video about the salutary impact that active and shared musical experience has on elders with dementia. It is a film that should come with a warning label for viewers, especially those already who know that music has the potential to reveal the essential sense of self presumed lost to the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease
21Jan
My Father’s House: A Journey of Love and Memory
At one point in this remarkable film, 89-year-old Dr. Peter Reimann, accompanied on piano by daughter Hannah Reimann, sings this brief German art song from Schubert’s Die Winterreise No. 15. The Raven (Die Krähe).
06Sep
What They Had
In the opening scenes of this captivating film, an older woman gets out of bed in the dark, gets partially dressed, and walks out of the house in a light jacket into a snowy night. The shot holds on her walking down the street for several seconds until she disappears into a shower of heavy snowfall. A wife/mother has disappeared, setting off panic on the part of her husband and children.
11May
Revolutionizing Dementia Care
Gerontologists are becoming increasingly aware of the advent and growth of the person-oriented model of care for individuals diagnosed with dementia or related conditions. Our On Film and Digital Media team has shared previous reviews of wonderful documentaries illustrating individually tailored applications of such care as creative role involvement, personalized music, and painting (Scheidt, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, respectively).
11Apr
Alzheimer’s: Every Minute Counts
By contrast, the opening of Alzheimer’s: Every Minute Counts presents a staccato march of sound bites invoking dire scenarios. “Alzheimer’s is an epic disease.” “It’s going to sink the health care economy.” “This disease will take us down.”
11Apr
Living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia is introduced by singer Kathy Mattea who, after noting the struggles and challenges dementia brings to individuals and families, asks “How can you continue to live fully even with that diagnosis, and how can we as a community better support those who are living with dementia and their care partners?”
11Feb
Marjorie Prime
Memory, and its loss, is a well-worn theme in many films, including several that explore the loss of memory due to dementia. But Marjorie Prime presents us with a new and intriguing supposition regarding the future of personal memories.
05Feb
Still Mine (reviewed by Gayle Doll, PhD)
We started slow with Still Mine, a sweet and sad true tale of the losses a couple experienced as the wife begins a slow decline into dementia.
04Dec
Angel’s Perch
Angel’s Perch opens with a close-up shot of a young woman sleepily protesting having a cell phone camera recording her. The person with the camera responds “We’re going to want to remember these things someday.” Then, taking out a family heirloom ring, he proposes to the suddenly wide awake woman.