'Love at First Sight' premieres tonight
17 November 2010
Supported by a Wellcome Trust People Award, the film tells the story of a day in the life of 70-year-old Arthur, who falls in love with the 'new' resident in his care home, a beautiful woman called Ruth.
Written, produced and directed by a team of experienced filmmakers, 'Love at First Sight' portrays a different and very important side of living with dementia, emphasising people's retained emotional memory, and the lasting love between two people.
Director Michael Davies explains why he wanted to make the film: "We wanted to challenge the bizarre, but widely held belief that 'old people' are somehow too old to fall in love."
Professor Murna Downs of the Bradford Dementia Group commented: "What I particularly like about this film is that it catches the audience dismissing Arthur's 'falling in love' as being somewhat ridiculous and unrealistic. Yet as the film unfolds we see Arthur in the context of his life and love, and then we understand that what he says and does, wishes and hopes for, makes a lot of sense.”
Despite the seriousness of the underlying messages, the film captures the comic elements of everyday life, and falling in love, in a moving and poignant manner.
Professor Downs added: "The film portrays the lasting love between two people, and the reciprocal nature of that love, and in my view much of the best care for people with dementia is based on such love."
'Love at First Sight' premieres in the "Best of British: Made in the South West" strand of the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol this week.
