Alzheimer’s
NARRATIVE | 5 – 10 MIN. | OLDER ADULTS, HEALTH CHALLENGES
As her husband Walter shows increasing signs of severe mental illness, Nancy fights to hold on to the memory of their marriage while struggling with the day-to-day life as a dependent senior citizen.
But What Does It Mean?
EXPLORE THE FILM'S MEANING →
Even when we feel that we have a sense of a film’s meaning, there is often more to uncover.
Watch this video to better understand the film and why we selected it for the festival.
CLICK TO EXPLORE THE FILM'S THEMES
What are the things that you want to remember about your life? Make a list of the things that you want to celebrate and make it as long as you can. Think of the small details as well as the big. Now put the list in an envelope, seal it, and write “IMPORTANT” across the front. Put it in a drawer and forget about it. And see if you remember the next time you come across it, what prompted you to make this list.
Meet the Filmmaker
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Peter Vietro-Hannum started his film career at MTV Networks in the late 80’s, and has worked in the Film & Television Industry for the past 25 years. In 1995, he earned a BFA in Film from Syracuse University, and promptly moved to New York City to begin his career. He started as a key grip and dolly grip on dozens of independent movies where he realized that everyone’s job on set, including the technical crew’s, is to help tell the story. Today, as a camera and steadicam operator, Peter is called upon daily for his creative perspective and experienced eye. Peter has directed numerous short films and has started to transition into directing full time.
WHY THEY MADE THIS FILM
“‘What do you really know?’ That’s not just the name of the game show that plays in the background of the climatic scene of ALZHEIMER’S, it’s the question I ask myself as a director all the time. People are not one-dimensional, so the characters we chose to weave into our movies shouldn’t be either. As a director I’m interested in telling stories about people and situations that make audiences think. This film is blessed with an amazing cast that all jumped into the challenge of telling a multi-dimensional story with characters whose truths lay just below the surface. I hope you enjoy ALZHEIMER’S.”
Your Turn: What did YOU think of this film?
7 Comments
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UnLonely Film Fest 4
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ABOUT THE UNLONELY PROJECT
The UnLonely Project broadens public awareness of the negative physical and mental health consequences of loneliness while also promoting creative arts-based approaches to reduce the burden. Click here for mental health resources.
Poignant, moving. Thank you Peter for making this film.
This was touching and well made. Beautiful.
I am a program manager for family caregiver support services in Los Angeles and was looking for something to share with our family caregivers dealing with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Frankly, I was disappointed because this is so negative and depressing. Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia have such a negative stigma as it is and films like this do not help. Families need to see the positive outlook in these situations, they are dealing with the negatives and difficulties with these horrible brain diseases already, and watching something like this would not help. This is not even helpful for families who might deal with dementia in the future. In my opinion, films need to help change the negative stigma associated with being a family caregiver and dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia. There is a positive outlook.
Thanks Amy for leaving a comment. We understand your reasons for not sharing the film in the way you intended, and certainly do NOT want to do anything to distress family caregivers. We feel this film shows the real burden of caregiving, still not fully appreciated by many non-caregivers. We sincerely hope that viewing it can make others understand the challenging sides of the caregiving journey, fostering empathy and compassion. We also acknowledge and agree that balancing out challenging films with others that portray a variety of experiences around dementia, some of them more uplifting, is useful too, and we will make every effort to do so in the future.
The way the movie is framed or presented is misleading.The way that I interpret the movie is that the woman is imagining her dog to be her (late?) husband. She is the one with the “mental illness” and what she’s experiencing seems to be more delusional than dementia/Alzheimers. This seems to be confirmed at the end of the movie when her husband “becomes” a dog. This is further confirmed (for me) on a closer second watching of the movie.
Even though this film seems depressing and negative to some people, the truth of the film is this is how life with dementia and Alzheimer’s is for real. Caregivers do take advantage of the people the care for by stealing. I felt this film was truthful and upsetting. Upsetting because elderly people have worked hard for what they have and others can take that away without them even knowing. Thank you for sharing a film that really shows what people with dementia or Alzheimer’s deal with.
Wow – this really highlights how what you think you know and what is really happening can be two completely different things. Fascinating!