MEMORY FOR MAX, CLAIRE, IDA AND COMPANY

DC Premiere

Max, Claire, Ida and their friends live, sing, laugh and struggle together at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto. The mundane activities of daily life-making a phone call, eating dinner, getting dressed-acquire a dimension of difficulty among house members whose cognitive abilities are failing. But even as their memories fade, they are very aware of the present, and their lives are richly interactive and emotionally complex.

In this intimate introduction to the life changes that accompany loss of memory, veteran Canadian filmmaker Allan King allows feuds, flirting and fun to play themselves out. Eschewing the conventional documentary interview and allowing the action to unfold without interference or direction from him, King produces footage as unmediated and transparent as possible.

Masterfully documenting the highly personal experiences of his subjects and their families, King juxtaposes pictures and stories from the residents' divergent pasts with the new kinds of love and friendships they form in their adopted home. From the outside, we think of geriatric institutions as one-dimensional and sad, verging on pathetic. By contrast, King provides a glimpse into a world that is altered-but certainly not lost-when memory begins to fade.

-Violette Davis

Sponsored by
The Canadian Embassy

DIRECTOR BIO
Allan King "There are few filmmakers whose impact has been central to the medium but Allan King is unquestionably one of them," wrote Festival Director of Toronto International Film Festival, Piers Handling. King's career began in 1956 with the documentary SKIDROW for CBC. He opened a London studio in 1961, producing many highly-acclaimed documentaries for European and North American television. WARRENDALE, a 1967 film about emotionally disturbed children, won the Priz d'art et d'essai at Cannes and the New York Critics' Award. King has also produced and directed an extensive body of fiction films, including WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND, which won the Paris Grand Prix.

Print Source:
Theresa Ho
Allan King Films
965 Bay Street
Suite 2409
Toronto, ON M5S 2A3 CANADA
416.964.7284
th@allankingfilms.com

6/15 at 4:00 PM

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