Forgetting Dad at Kos International Health Film Festival

if your father no longer remembers you, does he stop being your father? http://www.forgettingdad.com/

Μια εβδομάδα μετά από ένα φαινομενικά ανώδυνο ατύχημα, ένας 45χρονος άντρας παθαίνει ολική αμνησία. Βαφτίζοντας τον εαυτό του Νέο Ρίτσαρντ ξεκινάει μια καινούργια ζωή με καινούργια σύζυγο και μακριά από την οικογένειά του. Δεκαέξι χρόνια αργότερα, ο μεγαλύτερος γιος του επιστρέφει με μια κάμερα για να ανακαλύψει τον λόγο που η μνήμη του πατέρα του δεν επανήλθε ποτέ.

One week after a seemingly harmless car accident, a 45-year-old man suffers total amnesia. Christening himself the “New Richard,” he embarks upon a new life with a new wife far away from his family. Sixteen years later, his oldest son returns with a camera to investigate why his father’s memory never returned.

http://forgettingdad.wordpress.com/Δεν ήθελα το Forgetting Dad να είναι μια ακόμη άσκηση ενδοσκόπησης όπως οι περισσότερες προσωπικές ταινίες. Αναζητούσα μια πιο οικουμενική διάσταση. Τι σημαίνει η απώλεια στην ευρύτερη έννοια της; Σε τι μεταφράζεται η απώλεια ενός στενού συγγενή; Σήμερα γίνεται όλο και περισσότερος λόγος για το Αλτζχάιμερ και την άνοια και τυχαίνει να έχω αρκετούς φίλους με γονείς που πάσχουν από άνοια. Μπορεί η μνήμη τους να μην χάθηκε ξαφνικά –όπως συνέβη με τον πατέρα μου– αλλά σταδιακά εξασθενεί. Θα έρθει σύντομα η μέρα που αυτοί οι φίλοι μου θα αντικρίζουν τους γονείς τους κι εκείνοι δεν θα τους αναγνωρίζουν πια. Είναι ένα θέμα που σίγουρα θα μας απασχολήσει πολύ στο κοντινό μέλλον. Πώς θα καταφέρουμε να αντιμετωπίσουμε αυτού του είδους την απώλεια;

I didn’t want Forgetting Dad to be an exercise in navel gazing like so many personal films are. I was striving for a more universal level, something that would interest viewers outside my own family. What does the loss of a close family member mean? What is the significance of loss in its broadest sense? These days you hear more and more about Alzheimer's and dementia. I have several friends whose parents are suffering from these illnesses. They haven’t suddenly lost their memory like my father did, but it’s slowly fading away. One day these friends are going to be confronted with the fact that their parents no longer recognize them. This theme is going to become increasingly important in the near future as people live longer and longer due to advancements in health care.

But what is the value of a long life once memories have vanished?

How are we going to deal with the challenges widespread memory loss pose to future generations?

ABOUT »FORGETTING DAD«2008 - IDFA Special Jury Award:"In this documentary home movies show us an ordinary happy family in twentieth century America. However, not all is as it seems. The father in the movies is still alive but he does not remember anything. Or does he? Rick Minnich made a documentary about his own father, who says he lost his memory after a car accident but the doctors cannot find anything wrong with him and the members of the family are not convinced either. Memory loss might be an act of will.In the risky genre of the personal documentary Rick Minnich and Matthew Sweetwood managed to do everything right. The structure gives the film a beautiful sense of suspense. The notion of the possibility to escape from your own life permeates the film and makes the movie not only touching but also exhilarating." (statement of the Joris Ivens Competition jury) FBW, Germany:Rick Minnich tells the story of his father, who lost his memory at the age of forty-five and became an unapproachable stranger to his family, in a way that has all the excitement of a detective story. Minnich’s carefully crafted documentary impresses the viewer due to the very direct and personal insight it gives into the feelings of a family who are dealing with this traumatic situation in very different ways. It is above all Minnich’s love of craftsmanship that helps him make a film that goes beyond the private to attain universal significance. An eerie, impressive film that is deeply moving."
Reasons given by the FBW-Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden [Wiesbaden film assessment centre] for giving the film its highest seal of approval (Prädikat Besonders Wertvoll”)