EX MEMORIA
‘Some memories fade. Others keep returning.’
Starring Sara Kestelman Natalie Press
Julie Legrand David Birkin Miriam Karlin Anna Wing Shaun Dooley
Bradford Dementia Group
You are invited to a screening of Ex Memoria at
Pictureville
National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
Tuesday 6 June 7.30-8pm pm
A film by Josh Appignanesi
(writer/director of ‘Song of songs’)
Developed in association with Bradford Dementia Group
Errollyn Bruce, Andrea Capstick, Claire Surr
Produced by MiaBays
(producer of the Oscar © winner ‘SixShooter’)
Funded by a Sciart Award from
Thanks to Bill Lawrence at NMPFT for making this screening possible
RSVP to
A short discussion will follow the screening and there will be refreshments and time for more discussionafterwards at Omar Khan’s, 30 Little Horton Lane, opposite the ice rink. Please let us know if you are coming, and definitely get in touch if more than one person wants to come.
Please contact
Jane Mallinson (01274) 233996
More about the film
Ex Memoria (featuring Sara Kestelman and Natalie Press) was made with funding from the Wellcome Trust’s SCIART scheme and is the product of a collaboration between Josh Appignanesi (writer/director), MiaBays (producer) and academic partners Errollyn Bruce and Andrea Capstick from Bradford Dementia Group.
Josh Appignanesi’s visits to his grandmother with dementia in her nursing home were the inspiration for the film Ex Memoria. Her dementia made it hard for her to figure out what was going on around her, sometimes giving a surreal quality to the everyday sights and sounds of a nursing home. Her memories of war time Poland were often as real to her as the here and now, there was a tendency for them to mingle with the present. As a film maker, Josh realised that film could be used to give us a glimpse of the strangeness of living with dementia. He drew upon his grandmother’s life history and experiences to create the character Eva, and the collaboration with the Bradford Dementia Group helped him present a nuanced and believable picture of Eva’s experience of dementia.
Ex Memoria is filmed in a way that highlights Eva’s view of events. It challenges us to think about what she is experiencing. It invites us to consider what it is like to be an old person with dementia receiving care and trying to make sense of past and present. Without dictating what we should think or do, it reminds us to reflect, discuss and try to understand.
The Wellcome Trust supported the development of learning material and copies of the film on DVD that can be used in dementia care education and training. Andrea will be evaluating the educational use of the film, and exploring the reactions of students and practitioners.
For further information about education, training and research at Bradford Dementia Group, visit