Inside Look to Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s

by Amanda Lou for Winter Film Festival
See the World Premiere of the documentary Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s on February 22 @2:50PM at LOOK Cinemas (657 West 57th Street) as part of New York City’s 13th Annual Winter Film Festival. Tickets now on sale!

Documentary MATTER OF MIND: MY ALZHEIMER’S is the final film in a series of three documentaries, each focusing on a different neurodegenerative disease. Directed by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green, the documentary follows three families as they confront the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease. It explores how the disease impacts identities and relationships – when one partner becomes a caregiver or how both parent and child are transformed when the traditional role of provider is reversed. These participants remain anchored by profound and loving bonds amidst financial, logistical, and emotional obstacles.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the decline in cognitive functions that can interfere with daily life. The disease typically starts with mild memory loss and confusion but worsens over time, eventually impairing a person’s ability to communicate, recognize loved ones, and care for themselves. It’s believed to be caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, and while there’s yet to be a cure for the disease, treatments aim to manage symptoms and slow progression.

Due to the nature of the illness, it is often challenging for people with Alzheimer’s to speak to their own experiences. They sometimes have difficulty finding the words to communicate their experiences, and can even lack awareness that they are ill during later stages of Alzheimer’s. It was very important to the directors that the people in the film living with Alzheimer’s be able to share their perspectives in whatever way was possible for them. Anna and Laura worked to do this through direct interviews and questions when possible, as well as by documenting scenes where they sometimes shared their awareness and insight in less direct ways, and also by exploring their interests and passions.

One of the less visible parts of the documentary process is the research that Anna and Laura did when looking for subjects and stories. They spoke to dozens of families, only of a few of whom they are able to include in the film. Anna said, “It’s truly one of the most amazing aspects of making documentaries that we get to tell the stories of “ordinary people.” So many of the people we speak with have incredible stories and approach daily challenges in ways that are inspiring to us both personally and as storytellers. “

Because people’s lives and stories are so complex, it is often impossible to capture them in their totality – especially within the 60-120 minutes that the duo have to tell a documentary story. Additionally, there are many different experiences of Alzheimer’s disease and they were only able to represent three different families in this film. While it is impossible to ever tell the complete story of Alzheimer’s, or even the three families in their film, Anna and Laura work hard to include stories and moments that they think speak to a diversity of experiences while also reflecting the experiences of many others who are facing similar situations. They spent at least 6 months researching each of their films by speaking to families across the country and gathering insight into the common themes and challenges individuals are going through before they even start turning the camera on.

Anna said, “It’s a tremendous responsibility to try to tell someone’s story, and doing our best to meet that challenge is always the hardest part of it. Almost by definition, making documentary films involves working closely with people as they go through intense personal circumstances.” In this film, each of the families they filmed with is struggling with the ongoing emotional, financial, and relational challenges of Alzheimer’s. Being able to tell people’s stories well requires navigating emotionally and logistically complex circumstances and requires striking a balance with creative concerns and decision making.

Anna adds, “It is a great honor and delight to get to spend time with the incredible participants featured on camera in our films. Being able to get to know remarkable, unique people with a vast diversity of life experiences is incredibly rewarding.” They loved the process of seeing their documentaries come together in the editing room. Carving out the film’s story from countless hours of footage is a tremendous amount of work, but also is a creatively engaging process that challenges them as filmmakers and storytellers. Anna also wanted to give a shout out to their incredible editor on this series, Katherine Gorringe – who did a phenomenal job!

With more than 7 million people in the US alone living with Alzheimer’s, each one is connected to networks of family, friends, and caregivers. It is crucial that people provide the resources and care needed to help them lead meaningful lives. Caregivers also need financial and emotional support to care for their loved ones while maintaining their own well-being. Anna said, “We hope that audiences will take away from this film that as a society and culture we need to support people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers in a much greater way than we currently do. “