What’s it like to age with early-phase vascular dementia? And how about your loved ones? Successful author Heleen van Royen has taken on caring for her elderly mother and films their frequent meetings. Increasingly, Mrs Breed’s life consists of confusion and unbearable stabbing pains that she tames with a mantra. She regularly refuses help, good advice and a Zimmer frame, although she is also thankful for her committed daughter’s support.
Van Royen filmed an eventful year with her ailing mother and the contact with care providers, including specialists as well as family members. The camera often films from a tripod as mother and daughter confer: on the couch, in hospital, during physiotherapy or outside in the garden. The images have been meticulously put together by Mirei Franssen. The result is an open, heartwarming and heart-rending portrait of a daughter and a mother in the autumn of her life.
Film details
- Country of production
- Netherlands
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2017
- Length
- 86'
- Medium/Format
- DCP
