Ex Memoria: Exploring the experience of dementia

Based on real events, the film ‘Ex Memoria’ takes us into a day in the life of Eva, putting us face to face with one person’s experience of old age and dementia. It boldly forces us to face her lived reality as she moves in and out of the momentary, the half-remembered, the partly imagined. We watch as her trouble past returns to haunt the present.

Running time: 2 min 40 s
Read the transcript [PDF 52KB]

In 2004, Missing in Action Films produced a short film looking at the subject of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Based on experiences with his grandmother, writer and director Josh Appignanesi's ‘Ex Memoria’ immerses viewers in a face-to-face encounter with someone living with the disease. The film reflects the experiences of patients and their families, and is both a thought-provoking piece of cinema and an educational resource for the health and social care community.

To ensure the film gave an accurate portrayal of the effects of such a disease in a way that raised the right kind of questions for further discussion, the script was developed in collaboration with academics at the Bradford Dementia Group at the University of Bradford, a centre for the development of teaching, education and research in the field of dementia care.

The film premiered in London in April 2006, and toured prestigious film festivals, including London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Los Angeles and Montreal. It was shortlisted for the Kodak Short Film Awards and nominated for Best Short at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards.

Mia Bays, the film's producer, then embarked on a series of activities in collaboration with the Bradford Dementia Group to disseminate the work to the public and health and social care professionals. 3000 DVDs of the film and accompanying guidance notes were being distributed to care homes across the UK for training purposes, as well as to the Alzheimer's Society, specialist media and other sector academics and professionals.

Sciart Award, 'Ex Memoria', 2004.