''Dementia'' is a 2014 Filipino

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Perci Intalan, in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. The film stars

Nora Aunor Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (born May 21, 1953), professionally known as Nora Aunor (), is a Filipino actress, recording artist, and film producer. Aunor has also appeared in several stage plays, television shows and concerts. She is known as Ph ...

as Mara, a woman faced with

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

encountering strange occurrences in her ancestral home. The film premiered on 24 September 2014 under Regal Films. The film won Best Foreign Language Film and Aunor the Best Actress in a foreign language film at the 2015 St. Tropez International Film Festival.

Synopsis

In the hopes of helping her aunt Mara (

) better deal with her dementia, Rachel (

Jasmine Curtis Jasmine Cassandra Curtis-Smith (; born April 6, 1994) is a Filipino-Australian actress, host, dancer, endorser, writer, and model. She is known internationally for her critically acclaimed performance in Hannah Espia's 2013 film ''Transit'', a ...

) moves her out to their family's remote

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

. There Rachel records Mara's daily activities and helps engage the older woman in exercises that would help her cognitive thinking, such as putting together

jigsaw puzzles A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In th ...

. What Rachel did not plan on is that Mara's presence in the house will stir up memories and presences that are better left undisturbed. Mara and Rachel begin to see a ghost of Mara's past memories come alive.

Cast

as Mara Fabre, a woman facing

Bing Loyzaga Carla Cuerva Loyzaga-Gibbs popularly known as Miss Bing Loyzaga-Gibbs or simply Miss Bing Loyzaga (born April 9, 1970) is a Filipina actress and singer. She is being known for her Antagonistic Roles like ''Babaeng Hampaslupa'' as Katarina, ''Si ...

as Elaine, Mara's younger cousin *

Yul Servo John Marvin Cruz Nieto (born February 22, 1977), popularly known by his stage name Yul Servo Nieto or simply Yul Servo, is a Filipino actor and politician who is currently the vice mayor of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, since 20 ...

as Rommel, as Elaine's husband. *

as Rachel, Mara's first cousin once removed, and Elaine's and Rommel's daughter *

Jeric Gonzales John Eric Salvanera Gonzales (born August 7, 1992), professionally known as Jeric Gonzales, is a Filipino actor, singer, and model. He is known as one of the winners of the second season of the reality show, ''Protégé'', a reality based ''ar ...

as Vincent, a young neighbor *

Chynna Ortaleza Lara Serena Roque Ortaleza-Cipriano (born December 6, 1982), professionally known as Chynna Ortaleza, is a Filipino actress, television host, and model. She is currently a contract star of GMA Network. Career Ortaleza landed her first TV gig as ...

as Olivia * Althea Vega as a local healer and

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

*Lui Manansala as a faithful family

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer pays in advance for ...

Production

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

for the film started on March 19, 2014 in

Batanes Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

. Scenes were primarily shot in Sabtang and some were shot in Basco. Most of the shooting the film were done in the day and seldom goes beyond sunset.

Awards and recognition

International

Local

References

External links

Test footage for ''Dementia''
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dementia Philippine horror films 2010s Tagalog-language films 2014 horror films Regal Entertainment films 2014 films Films set in Batanes Films shot in Batanes 2014 directorial debut films Films directed by Perci Intalan