''I Remember Better When I Paint'' is a

feature length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

international

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is viewed by society. The film examines the way

creative arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

bypass the limitations of

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 ...

disorders such as Alzheimer's and shows how patients' still-vibrant imaginations are strengthened through

therapeutic A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

art.

Synopsis

The film is by Eric Ellena and Berna Huebner, and is narrated by actress

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

. It features an interview with

Yasmin Aga Khan Princess Yasmin Aga Khan (born December 28, 1949) is a Swiss-born American philanthropist known for raising public awareness of Alzheimer's disease. She is the second child of American movie actress and dancer Rita Hayworth, and the third child ...

, president of

Alzheimer's Disease International Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) was founded in 1984 to help to fight Alzheimer's disease, which was first diagnosed in 1906. ADI is the umbrella organisation of more than 100 Alzheimer's associations around the world. Each member supports ...

and daughter of

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

, who had Alzheimer's, describing how her mother took up painting while struggling with the disease. The inspiration for the film is the story of Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein (Hilgos), who had Alzheimer's. As she painted, Hilgos’s mobility and speech began to improve as did her quality of life. The documentary includes interviews with renowned

neurologists Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

who explain how creative activities engage areas of the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...

that are not damaged by the disease and thus reawaken a sense of personality, identity and dignity. Doctors interviewed include

Robert Neil Butler Robert Neil Butler (January 21, 1927 – July 4, 2010) was an American physician, gerontologist, psychiatrist, and author, who was the first director of the National Institute on Aging. Butler is known for his work on the social needs and the rig ...

, founding director of the

National Institute of Aging The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA itself is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the ...

; Sam Gandy of Mount Sinai Medical Center; Gene D. Cohen of

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

; Robert Green and Bob Stern of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

; and Avertano Noronha of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. The film demonstrates the intersection between the arts, medical and scientific worlds.

Release

The film was selected for the 2016 Flager Film Festival, the 2010

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

and the 2009 Bel Air Film Festival. In 2014 and 2015, the film broadcast nationwide on public television stations in the United States during November Alzheimer's Awareness month. ''I Remember Better When I Paint'' has been released as part of a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

package which includes the documentary and a series of short supplemental films that further highlight special programs and flesh out the how-tos of organizing an outing, a creative workshop or recreating social bonds between people with Alzheimer's and their families.

Social media

The documentary's Twitter was named a 2015 finalist in the charity category of the Shorty Awards, an annual event that honors the best in social media. From the seven finalists, the 2015 Shorty Award for the best in charity was awarded to the

Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

. In 2020, the account was named among the top ten best on Twitter in the annual WEGO Health Activists Awards.

References

External links

* *
''I Remember Better When I Paint''
at French Connection Films *{{YouTube, 54AtoQVGfwU, Film trailer of ''I Remember Better When I Paint'' 2009 films American documentary films Documentary films about dementia Art therapy 2000s English-language films 2000s American films