Grandma Despina

This scene is a part of the very first film shot produced by the Manaki Brothers. Despina, the Janaki and Milton Manaki's grandmother, was recorded weaving in one high-angle shot. For no apparent reason, the first shot made in Macedonia, in the Balkans in fact, made by these two cinematography pioneers, contains peculiar symbolics: at the moment when the grandmother Despina spins the weaving wheel, film starts rolling in our country.

1905-11-02 | mk

A Minha Avó Trelotótó

«My grandma had a great strength and love for life which made me believe that some of us were able to become immortals and escape death. When she passed at the age of 92, her death was a surprise to me, which I was not prepared for. The cinema has the immense power of creating the illusion of life and its protection. This film is my attempt to rescue my grandma from death. It is not a documentary about my grandma but a film with my grandma. I wanted to film a ghost and then return it to the realm of the living, like Orfeu tried with Eurídice. It is a route to resurrection. It is my way of giving her immortality which I deem to be her right.»

2019-05-06 | pt

El pisto

2022-04-07 | es

Julieta

The life and times of the mexican pianist Julieta García Rello, as told by her granddaughter.

2006-05-11 | es

Mother

In a village in Thailand, Pomm works in a care center for Europeans with Alzheimer's. While she is separated from her children, she helps Elisabeth during the final stages of her life, as Maya, a new patient, is on her way from Switzerland.

2020-01-28 | th

Mother was a CEO

The story about how Britt-Marie took back the brush factory from her husband’s cruel brother at the end of the fifties was one of Malin’s childhood fairy tales. Britt-Marie is now 95 years old and trying to set the story straight with the help of her daughter behind the camera. Together they outline a powerful life story that is slowly fading away.

2019-01-26 | sv

Granny's Flags

Haja Fatma, a mother to eight children, tells the tale of family life in Tripoli during the Libyan Revolution. Women, young and old, all contributed during these hostile months in their own unique way. A human portal into the acts of ordinary people in their hope for freedom.

2013-01-01 | en

Coming and Going

Abroad at the time of her death, a grandson returns to revisit the house of his late grandmother, now occupied by another family. A reflection on the love for a home where one grew up and yet made by a grandmother missing another life, in another house, in another country.

2024-01-31 | en

Alive Inside

Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia—many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural fears over aging are confronted.

2014-01-18 | en

Hoa

Before her memory disorder develops, a Vietnamese grandmother maps out her life in a memoir.

2022-01-01 | vi

Mimo: Sau Chun's Story

Growing up, I heard many tales of my grandmother's life, before she was known as Mimo, and each narrative she told stuck with me and still impact my thinking to this day. I wanted to celebrate Mimo's wisdom and character, as well as capture the extraordinary within the ordinary. Hopefully I can inspire others to reflect on their own relationships with their elders and the untold stories that shaped their lives.

2023-08-23 | en

(Sol)ar Memories

To process grief, a young adult revisits fragments of their late grandmother’s life to restore the version of their own inner child when she still remembered them.

2024-09-07 | es

Het Doet Zo Zeer

What’s it like to age with early-phase vascular dementia? And how about your loved ones? Successful author Heleen van Royen has taken on caring for her elderly mother and films their frequent meetings. Increasingly, Mrs Breed’s life consists of confusion and unbearable stabbing pains that she tames with a mantra. She regularly refuses help, good advice and a Zimmer frame, although she is also thankful for her committed daughter’s support.

2017-02-23 | nl

Now That the Sun Begins to Set

Rafaela, an 80-year-old woman, has a long conversation with her grandson, going over his path from childhood to old age. Now that she has been diagnosed with chronic breast cancer, faith is more present in her life than ever, which coexists with Rafaela's fear of death, and her grandson's fear of dying.

2022-09-17 | es

Cry Rock

The wild beauty of the Bella Coola Valley blends with vivid watercolor animation illuminating the role of the Nuxalk oral tradition and the intersection of story, place and culture.

2010-10-03 | en

Everybody's Oma

Jason van Genderen makes home videos about his ageing mother ‘Oma’, and accidentally turns her into an internet sensation.

2022-08-11 | en

La memoria inmortal

2023-08-02 | es

Blindspot

A brief glimpse through the life of Granny Lue. A woman of faith, fearlessness, and fierce energy, she never allowed her disability to determine her ability to live.

2020-11-25 | en

Mai

As the months pass through her, Mai gives us a glimpse into old age that explores between being abandoned and being belonged, passing the time and living the time.

| mr

Redefining China's Family: Women

10 May 2007 - China's staggering economic growth has overshadowed a more subtle shift in Chinese society. In domestic life, many women are now ignore the advice of their mothers and grandmothers, turning instead to counselling hotlines and, increasingly, divorce.

2008-07-19 | en