Chicago, March 7-10, 2007

2007 Media Festival

Wednesday MARCH 7
(10:00 – 6:00)

Birch Street 51
(Dragoman Films)
10:00 a.m.  88 minutes

Documentary filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parents' 54  year marriage was a good one. So when his mother dies unexpectedly and his father swiftly marries his former secretary, Doug is stunned and suspicious.  Through increasingly candid conversations with family members and surprising revelations from his mother's diaries, he comes to terms with two parents who are far more complex and troubled than he ever imagined.  51 Birch Street is a riveting personal documentary that explores a universal human question—how much about your parents do you really want to know?

Gray Days
(Fanlight Productions)
12:00 p.m.  14 minutes

The U.S. has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of elderly men and women in state and federal prisons.  The troubling documentary introduces us to two elderly inmates, inviting discussion of the universal issues raised by this situation. 

Aging in America The Years Ahead
(Fanlight Productions)
12:15 p.m.  56 minutes

This riveting documentary introduces us to aging athletes, activists, wranglers and strippers, and to inmates growing old in our nation's prisons.  A compassionate, often surprising glimpse into the real lives of those who are reaching their "golden" years in the first part of the twenty-first century. 

The Age of Discovery: Provocative Insights of Life After 60
(Terra Nova Films)
1:15 p.m. 56 minutes

Blessed with unprecedented longevity, physical vitality, and imbued with the experience and wisdom that comes with age, we finally have a chance to do things we've never done before.  This film offers a compelling prospect for living in our later years as a unique, exuberant time of life on is own authentic terms.  A group of wonderful diverse individuals 66 to 106, share their insights on life after sixty.  Exploring creativity and learning, discovering new opportunities, giving back to the community, through volunteerism or political activism, these ordinary and extraordinary people inspire u to transcend old fears and embrace what is truly an age of discovery. 

Golden Years:  Aging and the Elderly
(Aquarius)
11:30 a.m. 30 minutes

The Longevity Revolution, cross-cultural differences, stereotypes – all present challenges to meeting the needs of America's growing population of elderly adults. This episode explores issues surrounding aging, death and dying, and features The Jewish Home for the Aged, a nursing home that provides a rich array of programs for its residents. Part of the 22-part series, The Way We Live.  Produced by Intellecom.

A Quality Age
(Terra Nova)
2:15 p.m. 20 minutes

What determines 'quality' in a long-term care setting?  Taped in three residential care settings, the new video identifies key quality indicators, and shows proven examples of how applying the principles of 10 Customer focus, 2) Teams and Teamwork, and 3) measurement care result in improvement in care delivery and performance outcomes.  The information in this video will help facilities establish and maintain staff-wide standard care that puts the resident's needs and preferences first.  It will enhance overall team performance and morale by documenting how every staff member contributes their various skills, information sharing, and  'personal touch' to providing quality care.  A valuable resource to help facilities enhance their standards of care through a quality-driven program that meets (or exceeds) the individual needs of residents—all the time.  Includes Facilitator's Guide.

The Energy Connection: Managing Stress/Avoiding Burnout
(Terra Nova)
2:35 p.m.  23 minutes

The Energy Connection: Managing Stress/Avoiding Burnout which is designed to help frontline workers and managers and workers get the most productivity out of their energy level, time and available resources without stress.  It also givers was to help all levels of staff acknowledge and deal with daily frustrations, co-worker (and management) conflicts, and time restraints without stressing out.  Part of a two-tape series, the energy Connection: Working as a team (19 minutes) is also available. 

Gentle Exercise: Armchair Fitness
(Aquarius)
3:00 p.m.  30 minutes

These programs demonstrate seated fitness improvement routines for people interested in increasing aerobic ability and overall body strengthening, stretching and relaxing. They are recommended by doctors, physical therapists and diabetes educators for people who limit vigorous activity because of preference, lifestyle, age or disability. They are an excellent path to lowering blood pressure, increasing stamina, muscle tone, flexibility, coordination and a sense of well being. This program is intended for persons with limited strength and range of motion. The program begins with a slow and easy warm-up. Teacher Betty Switkes progresses through a gentle full-body routine including a seated dance and a refreshing relaxation with Broadway style music.  This video is part of a two-tape series, Gentle Exercise: Yoga Health is also available.

Exits and Entrances
(Humdinger Films)
3:30 p.m.  43 minutes

In 2005, St. Barnabas Senior Services of Los Angeles embarked on a pilot program to teach senior citizens how to make films.  With little resources, 11 seniors ranging in age from sixty-four to eighty-five learned to conceptualize, develop, shoot and edit their own movies.  "Exits and Entrances" was shot over a one-year period by students and their teachers and documents their artistic and personal journeys.  Also included are clips from the students' finished products.

Still Kicking
(Golden Bear Casting)
4:13 p.m. 32 minutes

Writer Amy Gorman and musicians Frances Kandl search throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for female role models.  Six artistic women emerge, aged 19 to 106, and share their insights on art and life after ninety.  'Still Kicking' by filmmaker Greg Young, poignantly documents each woman's resolve to interpret for herself a life worth living into the ninth decade and beyond.  We are challenged to break down our stereotypes and attitudes towards being old.

Mabel's Saga
(Terra Nova Films)
4:45 p.m.  15 minutes

Meet Mabel.  Mother.  Career Woman.  And now, family caregiver.  Her family simply has no space for another challenge-especially not raging hot flashes.  After her doctor hints that she is "over the hill", Mabel is off on a hilarious, one-woman quest to find a "cure" for aging.  Mabel's emotional and universal journey takes her staunch resistance to growing acceptance, and finally, ad most importantly, to embracing herself at this new stage in her life.  This award-winning film offers a reassuring look at one of the most important passages in a women's life.

Project Visibility
(Boulder County Aging Services)
5:00 p.m. 20:31 minutes

Project Visibility brings awareness and a face to the issues of aging as a Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual.  Courageous elders speak about their lives, strengths, wishes, and concerns about the aging services network.  Professionals in the field of aging are also featured and provide a needed viewpoint on this issue.

Backseat Bingo
(Terra Nova)
5:20 p.m. 6 minutes

This clever animated documentary effectively dispels societal preconceptions about romance and older adults.  A refreshingly candid group of 70-, 0-, and 90-something seniors in a retirement community share personal relations on their continued need for love and intimacy.  A multiple award-winner, Backseat bingo draws its strength from the empowering honesty of the seniors who not only discuss their own romantic endeavors, but their own mortality and the conscious choice they make to keep going on despite hardships, and the deaths of loved ones and friends.  A powerful reminder that love and desire (in their various forms) remain an integral part of healthy aging and personal well-being.  Ideal as a discussion starter to help caregivers and family members broach the often overlooked subject of intimacy among older adults.

Helping a Child Cope with Grief
(Aquarius)
5:30 p.m. 27 minutes

Children understand death differently at different ages, and grieving can take many different forms.  But the critical thing is that there are steps you can take to make the grieving process more bearable for them- even while coping with your own grief.  Meet two families who have gone through the grieving process- one following the loss of a father, the other after the loss of the child- and learn from them and the experts what to expect, and what you and the other adults around your children can do to help.

Thursday MARCH 8
(10:00 – 6:00)

Pioneers of Hospice: Changing the Face of Dying
(Madison-Deane Initiative)
10:00 a.m.  50 minutes

Four visionaries stand out in the history of the modern hospice movement.  What they saw of the process of dying changed their lives.  They were appalled, not by the natural act itself, but by how our society hides it, denies it, misunderstands it and fails utterly to cope with it.  Meet Dame Cicel Saunders, Florence Wald, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and Balfour Mount.  Their work inspired a movement felt around the world. Over the past five decades, end-of life care has been dramatically transformed.  The makers of this film traveled to three countries to interview these remarkable pioneers. The result is a documentary of historic importance, and a riveting film. 

Resiliency After Violent Death: Lessons for Caregivers
(A Gift from Within)
10:53 a.m.  110 minutes

This program provides clinicians, social workers, clergy ad caregivers engaged in long term support with families after a violent death, helpful strategies to diminish the emotional distress of violent dying bereavement. The panel discussions and two case studies focus on the longer psychological and spiritual needs of loved ones.

Spiritual Care Basics: Caring for Elders: Body, Mind and Spirit
(California Lutheran Homes)
12:45 p.m.  93 minutes

This DVD presents Melvin Kimble, PhD, expressing the concepts of his friend and mentor Viktor Frankl as they apply to aging.  Frankl believes that the essential drive of the human person is towards meaning.  "if a person has a why to live they can contend with any how they have to live."  The DVD is divided into 15 segments, no longer then 8 minutes each, and come with a written leaders guide for use in discussion groups and staff development.

Mr. Nobody: A Video Exploring Self-neglect
(Terra Nova)
2:20 p.m. 35 minutes

Mr. Nobody sensitively addresses these questions by focusing on quirky 65 year old Jack Huggins.  Jack has lived alone in his family's house ever since the death of his parents.  A bachelor, lavishes attention on a menagerie of cats.  The house is crammed with discarded appliances collected from curbside garbage.  Jack's troubles began when his neighbors complained to the Health Department about the condition of his house.  Health officials came and carted away his "junk".  For a time, Jack was certified incompetent and his financial affairs were monitored by a state appointed trustee.  He deeply resented this interference, having always functioned independently.  " I never owed a person a cent and now I am being treated like Mr. Nobody," he protested.  Finally a senior advocacy agency had him re-assessed by a psychiatrist.  Do government agencies have an obligation to intervene?  Do mentally competent seniors have the right to neglect themselves and their surroundings to the extent that they endanger themselves and/or offend the community? 

Frank Ochberg, M.D. on Post-Traumatic Therapy: The Counting Method
(A Gift From Within)
2:55 p.m.  25 minutes

Traumatic memories invade the consciousness of those who suffer PTSD, presenting a profound challenge for the survivor and for the post traumatic therapist.  In the 25 minute videotape, Dr. Frank Ochberg explains and models his Counting Methods for mastering flashbacks and intrusive recollections.  This method is a powerful yet simple tool in the armamentarium of PTT- post traumatic therapy.  Recorded during an extraordinary training seminar for Michigan Sate University psychiatry residents, this video documents a specific technique and a collegial, collaborative relationship between psychotherapist and client, midway through a long-term, multifaceted outpatient treatment.  

Surviving Trauma and Tragedy: Lessons for Future Physicians
(A Gift From Within)
3:20 p.m. 82 minutes

Victims of violence often feel shame, self-blame and rejection.  Some develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- a psychological wounding that is oftentimes unrecognized and misunderstood.  This program reminds us that those who endure human cruelty have lives of dignity and meaning- even though they were mistreated by perpetrators, and on occasion, by professionals and family.  This compelling program, filmed in a live classroom setting at Michigan State University in a unique teaching too for educators in the health field.  Aimed at medical students, it is also equally suited for nurses and allied health professionals.

Louie, Louie: Portrait in Parkinson's
(Terra Nova Films)
4:45 p.m.  37 minutes

This film is a powerful look at one family's story of their father's courageous 33 ear battle with Parkinson's disease…personalized with old home movies, and family photos, the film chronicles both the father's determination to not give in to his debilitating illness and the family's endeavors to provide the best care for him.  The film skillfully captures the person behind the illness—we see Louie's spirited attitude triumph over the daily challenges of Parkinson's as he contends with hallucinations, falls, hand tremors, and a gradual loss of body control.  The family care giving dynamic is also explored as we see the family members struggle with their "new" roles as adult caregivers to their father while they balance careers and families of their own.  A must see for caregivers and family members of anyone with a chronic illness.

Hope in Sight:  Living with Macular Degeneration
(Terra Nova)
5:25 p.m. 33 minutes

Hope in sight: Living with Macular Degeneration addresses the fears of decreased vision and dependence, and provides realistic hope to those diagnosed with macular degeneration (and their families).  Through expert advice, and the personal stories of several persons who have found successful ways to adjust to the illness, the video shows that life car and does go on with macular degeneration.  The video gives ways to help persons with macular degeneration to use the remaining peripheral vision they have, and shows specific low vision aids and assistive devices that can make daily tasks easier.  Using sample demonstrations, their informative video explains: how the eye works, what macular degeneration does to vision, what can be done to compensate for decreased vision.  The video includes a simulated 'house tour' showing how someone with macular degeneration can function more independently in the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom settings.

Friday MARCH 9
(10:00 – 6:00)

Straight Talk About Dementia:  A Caregiver's Perspective
(Aquarius)
10:00 a.m. 45 minutes

This documentary explores issues on dementia important to both family and professional caregivers. It features a series of interviews organized by topic, so you hear the straight stories directly from those who struggle with caregiving issues every day. Topics include: Ethical caregiving, enhancing communication, encouraging compliance, daily living activities, fundamentals like eating and bathing, and caregiver health.

Caring for Someone with Mid-late Stage Alzheimer's Disease
(Healing Arts Communication)
10:45 a.m. 43 minutes

This program explores some typical issues that occur in the mid-late stages of Alzheimer's disease.  Topics include: flexibility and humor; keys to caregivers well-being, changes that occur in mid-late stages, core principles in Alzheimer's care, activities, tolerance levels, naps, balancing the day, repetitive calling out, sexuality and intimacy, incontinence and toileting and pain relief.

String Worms at Budd Terrace
(Terra Nova Films)
11:30 a.m.  71 minutes

Joan O'Sullivan has Lewy Body Diseases, a form of dementia.  Or does she?  Could the 'string worms' the doctors call hallucinations be real, rapidly infecting the facility where Joan, the filmmaker's mother, lives?  This film, riveting and intimates, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, is a story about life, love, family, and dementia.

This Kind of Love
(Terra Nova Films)
12:45 p.m.  10 minutes

Told through the eyes of an artist/husband, caregiver, this film is a personal look at how Alzheimer's affect's life, love and relationships in the family structure.  The film touches subtly on the life-changing effects and emotions of Alzheimer's- from the wife's initial forgetfulness and declining autonomy to the husbands unwavering decision to take care of her at home because he can not 'hand her helplessness over to others'.  This kind of love is a film about how life goes through the challenges of Alzheimer's and how love can overshadow and even transcend this most personal and intrusive illness.

Family Matters: Coming Together for Alzheimer's Disease
(Fanlight)
12:55 p.m.  27 minutes

By Barbara Moscowitz, MSW, LICSW, Garrett & Wendy McGrane Strang, MPH.  This video brings to life the emotional challenge of accepting the diagnosis that a family member has Alzheimer's disease, and of finding new ways to relate and communicate within the family.  It's a frightening and humbling journey, but this engaging program offers some guideposts along the way. 

A Time to Care: Activities of Daily Living
(Terra Nova)
1:25 p.m.

Using feedback from family caregivers, advice from experts, and visual demonstration, this informative video provides practical help for those caring for persons with dementia a home.  It will equip caregivers with methods to simplify and individualized daily care, and establish routines that maintain dignity and increase comfort levels for the person receiving care.  Includes solid strategies to assist with bathing, grooming, skin and foot care, oral care, dressing, and incontinence.  This video also teaches caregivers to be alert to specific symptoms—such as, behavior changes, signs of pain, and loss of appetite—that may signal potential health concerns.

Eleanor at 80
(Aquarius)
2:10 p.m.  55 minutes

Developed by Drs. Harry and Lisa Webne-Behrman, this DVD details the mediation process including: Setting ground rules, active listening, identifying key issues, exploring options and building an action plan. Step-by-step analysis by Harry and Lisa help families work through difficult issues in eldercare. There is also an interview footage featuring gerontologist Dr. Jill Steinberg and geriatric social worker Marie Hornes. They discuss a wide range of topics concerning older adults and their families.  

Getting Around: The Issues of Impaired Senior Drivers
(Aquarius)
3:05 p.m.  28 minutes

Personal stories, humor, and expert commentary add up to an entertaining film exploring impaired senior drivers from many perspectives. Officials, healthcare providers, families, and communities can work together to identify and assist at-risk elder drivers before tragedy strikes. A public health concern, not an age-based problem, helping families navigate the emotional terrain of an elder's transition to driving cessation. 

Midlife Dilemmas: Are My Parents Safe to Drive?
(Terra Nova)
3:35 p.m. 20 minutes

Midlife Dilemmas uses brief vignettes to preset three different family situations in which adult children must deal with growing concerns about the driving capability of an aging parent.  Each story documents the result of an interview with a healthcare professional and includes potential solutions such as, preventing the parent from driving, changing parent's medication, or addressing a medical condition that hindered driving safety.  With well-placed break points, each vignette becomes a valuable tool to 1) initiate discussion on older adults and driving safety, and 2) show the long-reaching impact of these decisions on both the older adult and their family members.  Ideal for healthcare professionals, service providers and students. 

The Educated Caregiver (Vol.1): Coping Skills
(Life View)
3:55 p.m.  80 minutes

Providing care for a loved one is one of the toughest jobs anyone could ever have.  In this video, you will meet others who know what you're going through.  They'll share their experiences, fears, feelings, insights, and advice.  From these caregivers and from healthcare professionals, you will hear valuable strategies on getting support, developing realistic expectations, and taking care of yourself and your loved one- the most important of all.

Essential Bedrest Skills
(Healing Arts Communication)
5:15 p.m. 35 minutes

This program teaches essentials skills needed when caring for someone on bedrest and how to perform the procedures safely.  Topics covered include proper posture and body mechanics, recognition and prevention of pressure ulcers, bedrest positions, moving and positioning someone in bed, Hoyer lift use, bedpan use, making an occupied bed, elasticized stockings and active range of motion exercises.

A Part of Daily Life: Alzheimer's Caregivers Simplify Activities and the Home
(Terra Nova)
5:50.m. 16 minutes

Developed for caregivers of persons with dementia, this video shows how breaking tasks into smaller steps can help the person with dementia to understand and perform tasks better, while boosting morale and encouraging continued participation in normal activities.  Interspersed with the experience of real family caregivers and advice from experts, this video gives hands-on strategies caregivers can use to; simplify and adapt tasks to individual levels of capability, communicate through ways that 'guide' rather then 'force', and best utilize the person's remaining skills.  Special emphasis is also placed on how to communicate more effectively through verbal and physical cues, as well as, how to modify the home environment with signs and boundaries that create a sense of structure and safety.

Saturday MARCH 10
(10:00 – 12:00)

To You Sweetheart, Aloha
(New Day Films)
10:00 a.m. 57 minutes

94-year-old 'ukulele pioneer Bill Tapia is a sharp dresser, a naughty jokester, and an irresistible charmer.  After the recent death of his wife and only daughter, Bill gave up on music, his vocation and passion for over 80 years.  Unexpectedly, he finds a new soul mate in his 26-year-old manager, Alyssa.  With Alyssa by his side, Bill rediscovers not only his musical zeal but also his youthful spirit.  Understandably, he falls for her.  What follows is a painful heartbreak, a resurrected music career, and Bill's inspires realization to live life to the fullest, even at age 94.  This intimate fill, addresses the taboos of cross-generational relationships and challenges the traditional notion of cross-generational relationships and challenges the traditional notion of "graceful aging" with an entertaining yet poignant portrayal of a passionate elderly artist who continues to love to grieve, and to live a complete life that is well beyond the society's expectation. 

Soothing Yourself: Wildlife Images for Healing
(Aquarius)
11:00 a.m. 60 minutes

You must see it to believe it!! Watch it and feel better. Unimaginably beautiful images of wildlife, an original relaxing music score and a soft, slow voice providing simple relaxation exercises in breathing and guided imagery, make this a one of a kind soothing program for young and old alike. Filmed around the world by an internationally acclaimed wildlife videographer. This program is a production of Academy Award-winning Sue Marx Films.

DISTRIBUTORS

Aquarius Health Care Videos  
Leslie Kussmann, President/Producer  
18 N. Main,  Sherborn, MA 01770  
Phone: 508/242-9858  888/440-2963  
Fax: 508/242-9854
Website: www.aquariusproductions.com  
E-mail: info@aquariusproductions.com

Boulder County Aging Services 
Teresa De Anni
P.O. Box 472, Boulder, CO 80306
Phone: 303/441-4995
E-mail:  tdeanni@co.boulder.co.uc

Center for Spirituality and Ethics in Aging 
Donald Koepke
891 S. Walnut St., Anaheim, CA 92802
Phone: 714/239-6267
Fax: 714-635-4819
Website: www.spiritualityandaging.org
E-mail: dkoepke@frontporch.net

Dragoman Films 
Ravt Turjeman
67-41 Burns St., Suite 309, Forest Hills, NY 11375
Phone: 718/971-5857
Website: www.51birchstreet.com 
Email: info@dragomanfilms.com
 
Fanlight Productions  
Nicole Johnson
4196 Washington St. – Suite 2, Boston, MA 02131 
Phone: 617/469-4999  
Fax: 617/469-3379
Website: www.fanlight.com  
E-mail: fanlight@fanlight.com

Gift from Within 
Joyce Boaz, Executive Director
16 Cobb Hill Rd., Camden, ME 04843 
Phone: 201/236-8858
Fax: 207/236-2818
Website:  www.giftfromwithin.org
E-mail: Joyceb3955@aol.co

Golden Bear Casting 
Greg Young
705 Union St., Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Phone: 831/643-9465
Website: www.GoldenBearCasting.com
E-mail: greg_young@mac.com

Healing Arts Communication  
Marion Karpinski
1911 United Way,  Medford, OR  97504 
Phone:  888/846-7008
Fax: 541/858-6696 
Website: www.homecarecompanion.com 
E-mail: info@homecompanion.org

Humdinger
Cheryl Pollak
3439 Descanso Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90026 
Phone: 323/906-0939
E-mail: Cheryl@uprightpictures.com

Life View 
P.O. Box 290787, Nashville, Tennessee 37229 
Phone: 800/395-5433
Website: www.lifeviewsources.com

New Day Films 
190 Route 17 M, P.O. Box 1084, Harriman, NY 10926 
Phone: 888/367-9154
Fax: 845/774-2945
Website: www.newday.com
E-mail: orders@newday.com

Oadison-Deane Initiative 
1110 Prim Rd., Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: 866/293-8200
Website: www.pioneersofhospice.org

Terra Nova Films  
9848 S. Winchester Ave., Chicago, IL 60643  
Phone: 800/779-8491
Fax:773/881-3368
Website: www.terranova.org  
E-mail: tnf@terranova.org