I Remember Better When I Paint shows how the creative arts can enhance the quality of life for people with Alzheimer’s. Starting at the beginning of this November (National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month in the US), the documentary will have been broadcasted nationwide by American Public Television (APT). The documentary has already been premiered on public television stations in major cities across the country such as WTTW National Productions in Chicago, WHYY (Y2 channel) in Philadelphia, and KVCR (Channel 9 Palm Springs and PBS SoCal) in the Los Angeles area. I Remember Better When I Paint is a stunning testimony to how art touches and connects with people in truly magnificent ways.

Narrated by Academy award-winning actress Olivia de Havilland, this international documentary includes visits to a variety of care facilities, as well as leading art museums in North America and Europe, to demonstrate how creative activities such as drawing, painting and museum visits can reawaken a sense of identity, dignity and engagement among those with severe memory impairment.

Leading doctors and neurologists explain how parts of the brain can be spared and discuss the life-enriching benefits of these new approaches. Among these experts are Dr. Robert Butler, a founding director of the National Institutes on Aging (NIH) and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Dr. Samuel Gandy of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Robert Green of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Dr. Robert Stern, Professor of Neurology at Boston University.

Inspiring personal stories are featured, including that of Rita Hayworth, as told by her daughter, Yasmin Aga Khan, to highlight the transformative impact of art and other creative therapies and how they are changing the way we look at Alzheimer’s.

The inspiration for the film came from the artist Hilgos, who had severe memory loss. When her daughter asked: “Mom, do you want to paint?” She unexpectedly responded, “Yes, I remember better when I paint.” Art students helped her regain a capacity for exchange and communication through painting.

I Remember Better When I Paint is written and directed by Eric Ellena and Berna Huebner, and is a French Connection Films and Hilgos Foundation production.

To see the nationwide broadcast dates for the rest of this month, please click here.

To purchase the DVD, please click here.

(Source: IRememberBetterWhenIPaint.com)