Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing(2012)

Alzheimer's: Every Minute Counts(en)

Alzheimer's: Every Minute Counts is an urgent wake-up call about the national threat posed by Alzheimer's disease. Many know the unique tragedy of this disease, but few know that Alzheimer's is one of the most critical public health crises facing America. Because of the growing number of aging baby boomers, and the fact that the onset of Alzheimer's is primarily age-related, the number of Alzheimer's case is predicted to skyrocket in the United States. This will not only be a profound human tragedy, but an overwhelming economic one as well. Due to the length of time people live with the illness and need care, it's the most expensive medical condition in the U.S. Future costs for Alzheimer's threaten to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and the life savings of millions of Americans.

Mary Bauermeister - Eins plus eins ist drei(de)

Mary Bauermeister is considered the mother of the Fluxus movement. In an attic on Cologne's Lintgasse, she made art history in the early 1960s alongside personalities such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nam June Paik. Today, at the age of 85, she has no intention of stopping. From morning till night, this extraordinary artist works in her studio near Cologne: a magical place.

Swingtij (Blue Notes & Higher Grounds)(nl)

Methadonia(en)

Shot over the course of 18 months in New York City's Lower East Side, METHADONIA sheds light on the inherent flaws of legal methadone treatments for heroin addiction by profiling eight addicts, in various stages of recovery and relapse, who attend the New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services (NYCATS).

CHSLD(fr)

François Delisle draws an intimate portrait of his mother in a nursing home. A chronicle of the daily life and medical care of a woman approaching the end, treated with love, respect and dignity.

Manlife(en)

For over 80 years, Merle Hayden has crusaded to recruit members to the utopian movement Lawsonomy. Founded by aircraft pioneer Alfred Lawson, Lawsonomy advocates for economic reform and clean, communal living that transforms followers into a "New Species" that will benefit the human race either in this life or the next. Merle joined Lawson as a teenager and never looked back. His high school sweetheart Betty Kasch, however, is tired of Lawson coming between them. Reunited after over 60 years apart, non-believer Betty wants Merle to join her in Florida. Merle's commitment to preserving Lawson's legacy, artifacts currently rotting in a barn alongside a Wisconsin highway, has Betty worried Merle may leave her for Lawson once again.

Fernando(pt)

Fernando is an actor and theater teacher who, at the age of 74, is impelled to be the protagonist of himself in an experience that blurs the boundaries between the documentary and the fictional. Faced with a delicate problem in his heart, he follows a life full of love for art, where education emerges as a powerful transforming element of reality.

Grey Ambition(en)

Canadian seniors over 65 are staying active through philanthropy, the arts, volunteerism, education, entrepreneurship, or the workplace. Profiled here are a fashion tycoon gone back to school in his 80s, a 95 year old who builds and flies airplanes, a competitive darts player and painter without hands, an entrepreneur, an avid community volunteer, and a couple in their 90s who continue to teach roller skating.

Younger: Looking Forward to Getting Older(en)

In a quiet corner, far removed from big money, celebrity status and drug scandals lies the true value of sport. This is a film about friendship and purpose in masters athletics, a place where every five years, getting older means becoming the youngest. Younger follows a group of female athletes in their 60s, 70s and 80s over the course of a year as they prepare to compete in masters competitions. In these competitions, athletes compete in age groups that span five years, 60-64, 65-69 etc. When an athlete moves up an age group they are then the youngest, and this means they are more likely to win or break records. So, as they approach the top end of their classification, they look forward to being a year older and moving up to the next group where they will be the new kid on the block again.

Madeleine(fr)

Every week, two friends born 67 years apart share their life stories in a senior home's living room. The younger friend convinces the 107-year-old lady to join her in an adventure: a road trip to the sea.

(Im)mortals(de)

What happens after death? Lila Ribi's 100-year-old grandmother Greti always has the same answer: There is nothing after death. The filmmaker sees things differently.

How to Live Forever(en)

Director Mark Wexler embarks on a worldwide trek to investigate just what it means to grow old and what it could mean to really live forever. But whose advice should he take? Does 94-year-old exercise guru Jack LaLanne have all the answers, or does Buster, a 101-year-old chain-smoking, beer-drinking marathoner? What about futurist Ray Kurzweil, a laughter yoga expert, or an elder porn star? Wexler explores the viewpoints of delightfully unusual characters alongside those of health, fitness and life-extension experts in this engaging new documentary, which challenges our notions of youth and aging with comic poignancy. Begun as a study in life-extension, How To Live Forever evolves into a thought-provoking examination of what truly gives life meaning.

Outliving Shakespeare(hy)

In a decaying Soviet-era retirement home, a vibrant group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare. Yet loneliness lingers beyond the theater’s doors, until drama begins to blur with reality.

Tracing Roots(en)

A new documentary that follows master Haida weaver Delores Churchill on a journey to replicate a spruce root hat discovered with the Long Ago Person Found. The 300-year-old traveler was discovered in British Columbia and DNA testing discovered living descendants in Canada and Alaska. Her search crosses cultures and borders, and involves artists, scholars and scientists. The project raises questions about understanding and interpreting ownership, knowledge and connection.

Danchi Woman(ja)

85 years old and never married, Shizu has spent the past 3 decades living in one "Danchi" - the Japanese word for public housing - and filling it with the lifetime of souvenirs that have always kept her company. When the danchi is scheduled for demolition, Shizu and neighbors must say goodbye to their homes, and move into newer danchi that are too small to hold all of Shizu's mementos. This intimate documentary captures Shizu's sense of humor, and profound nostalgia, as she sorts through relics of her past, and chooses which memories she must fit into her new home, and which ones she can let go of.

Work While You Have the Light(en)

"Work While You Have the Light" is a feature documentary by a multi-generational directing team that examines professional women who are over seventy years old and still working.

Till The End Of The Scene(lv)

For 91-year-old Ruta acting is not just a career: it is her lifestyle. Once again, she starts working on a new role. This time the theme of the play provokes questions about her own life: how does one deal with ageing? And, most importantly, - is there a specific time when an actress should leave the stage?

100UP(en)

100UP is a film which investigates the will to live. It portrays a colourful selection of 100+ year old people from all over the world. They have lived for over a century and witnessed great historical events, but instead of dwelling on the past, they look ahead. With the clock inevitably ticking, these centenarians cling to life, set new goals with a joie de vivre, refusing to admit the betrayal of their deteriorating bodies. Time is both their enemy and their friend. They have overcome diseases, lost partners and some of them survived their own children. Nevertheless, these active, curious and creative 100+ year olds are amazingly good at restarting every new day.

Het Muziekmedicijn(nl)

The threat of dementia is affecting more and more people. As they slowly lose their memories and physical abilities, music proves to be a miraculous source of comfort, vitality, and hope. How is it, for example, that people with dementia often remember music longer than their own names?

Below Surface(en)

BELOW SURFACE reveals the extraordinary power of community through an unlikely subject: a YMCA Aquafit class. The documentary gathers numerous moving stories of a multicultural and multi-generational Aquafit class to demonstrate how kindness and caring for others, combined with exercise, can be an antidote for grief, stress, and physical illness. The heartwarming honesty of the participants is a reminder of the power we all have to support one another.