A monthly film series promoting professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry. Screenings are generally held on the third Wednesday of each month at The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe St, Vancouver, BC.
Chile 2023 (85 min DCP)
Director: Maite Alberdi
Wednesday February 21st @ 7:00pm
The Cinematheque (1131 Howe St)
Film Description
Oscar-nominated director Maite Alberdi builds on her impressive oeuvre with The Eternal Memory, her most celebrated work to date. Filmed over several years, Alberdi’s tender portrait captures couple Augusto Góngora and Paulina Urrutia as they cope with the progression of Augusto’s Alzheimer’s disease. Augusto, a well-known television journalist for underground news outlets during Pinochet’s dictatorship, and Paulina, an actor and former Minister of Culture, have been life partners for 25 years. Incorporating extensive home video footage, The Eternal Memory is an intimate portrayal of the adventures, passions, and politics of two of Chile’s most adored public intellectuals. As Augusto’s mental state declines and he forgets who she is, Paulina takes on the role of caregiver and is forced to confront the heartrending reality of her husband’s condition. Despite the couple’s grief, their relationship is imbued with abundant laughter, connection, and an unconditional love that honours both their past and their ever-cherished present. (In Spanish with English subtitles)
Grand Jury Prize, World Documentary
Sundance 2023
Co-sponsored by the Dialogue on Aging Public Presentations Series, Providence Health Care and Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging, UBC
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“Alberdi succeeds at showing us the hard-to-manage sides of Alzheimer’s while avoiding reducing Augusto and Paulina’s relationship to a caregiver-patient dynamic … [The Eternal Memory] is a marvel … A testament to the individual’s role in collective memory.” — Marie Saadeh, Exclaim!
“Alberdi [builds] a portrait in the round, showing Augusto in bloom as well as blight, looking backwards to the courage and conviction of his rebel TV broadcasts, and the long flush of his love with Pauli.” — Nick Bradshaw, Sight and Sound
Post-screening Discussion:
Post-screening discussion with Dr. Benjamin Bryce and Dr. Elisabeth Drance. Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia
About the Panel:
Dr. Benjamin Bryce is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on migration to Argentina. At UBC, he is the chair of the Latin American Studies program. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association and a fellow at the Lateinamerika-Institut at the Freie Universität in Berlin.
Dr. Elisabeth Drance is a geriatric psychiatrist who has worked in the area of dementia care over the past several decades. She is one of the developers of the Dementia Caregiver Resilience Clinic at Providence Health Care. In addition to her psychiatry background, she is a mindfulness meditation teacher and is the first Canadian to teach Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care.
Dr. Harry Karlinsky, the Series Director of Frames of Mind and a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Psychiatry, has a longstanding commitment to professional and public education. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to information technology to narrative medicine to PTSD and to the use of films in health care education.
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