THIS WEEK’S FEATURED FILM PRESENTATION: "Memory Care ... the long goodbye” (Oct 20-Oct 26)
WATCH THE TRAILER (CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE FULL MOVIE)
Description
Memory Care … the long goodbye probes both the loss of self and the loss of a loved one from brain damage or the ravages of age. Nearly 50 million people worldwide live with dementia, a number that is expected to double in twenty years. The project explores elements that touch both the afflicted and their loved ones: confusion, isolation, helplessness, hope, and defeat. Watching someone you love fade away is truly the longest goodbye.
Runtime: 4 minutes, 44 seconds
Best Viewed: Any Screen, Cinema Presentation
Director Biography - Catherine Forster
Catherine Forster is an artist, writer, filmmaker, and independent curator based in Chicago. She received an M.F.A from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her artwork has been shown at the Notebaert Museum (Chicago), Flint Institute of Art, Carnegie Art Museum, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, South Bend Regional Art Museum, Indianapolis Art Center, The Rymer Gallery (Nashville), Contemporary Art Centre (Vilnius, Lithuania), Brick City Gallery, Missouri State University, Merwin Gallery Wesleyan University IL, Central Michigan University, Freewaves (LA), San Diego Art Institute, Llewellyn Gallery, Alfred State College NY, City of Louisville Colorado Sculpture Garden, Orange County Contemporary Art Center, Exit Art (NY), and the Hyde Park Art Center Chicago, to name a few. Films have been screened at the Sao Paul Intl Short Film Festival, Krakow Intl Short Film Festival, Currents Santa Fe Intl New Media Festival, Magmart Film Festival Casoria Intl Contemporary Art Museum (Italy), East LA Intl Film Festival, the Great Lakes Intl Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema NM, Chicago REEL Short Film Festival, the Other Venice Film Festival (CA), Echotrope New Media Arts Festival (Omaha), Simultan Media Arts Festival (Romania), Echo Park Film Center (LA), Directors Lounge (Berlin), and San Diego Intl Women Film Festival. Her writings have been published by Write City Magazine, and several works have attained finalist status in literary competitions. Forster was the founder and director of LiveBox, a roving gallery focused on new-media art and is currently a member of the curatorial committee for the Experiments in Cinema Festival Albuquerque, NM.
Director Statement
In 2008 I was commissioned by Chicago Opera Vangaurd to create a video backdrop for Joe Tracz’s Reagan’s Children, an apolitical piece exploring the notion of fatherhood across three generations. A key component of the opera was Ronald Reagan’s battle with Alzheimer’s and his children’s witness to his decline. Shortly before the opening, my father was diagnosed with vascular dementia. For years I tried to create a piece on the concept of self––what it is and what remains once it fades––but I was unable to find a way into the project until the passing of my father in 2018, a storyteller who stopped speaking. "Memory Care … the long goodbye" came together once I discovered an objective platform that still honored my own witness.
Credits & Specifications
Writer, Director & Producer: Catherine Forster
Completion Date: October 1, 2019
Production Budget: 500 USD
Country of Origin: United States
Country of Filming: United States
Language: English
Shooting Format: digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
