Experiencing Interruptions?

caring for mom (cc version)

What happens when your parent(s) can’t care for themselves?
Do you look for a nursing home to send your parent to?
Do you become your parent’s caregiver?

These questions have no easy answers because there are so many variables.

This documentary shows what happened when Alzheimer’s came into my mother’s life and how we managed it.

What started out as a private memorial video for Mom found a new life in its current metamorphosis as a possible motivator for others to consider home-care for their parents instead of automatically going the nursing home route.

You're not smacked over the head about having to take care of your elderly parents at home when the time comes that they need care. It's an option that's not cut out for everyone but this documentary shows how — should that route be taken — it's possible to have a meaningful experience and part of that experience can be taking your parent(s) out and about, hoping that the trip itself, plus whatever happens to be seen and experienced along the way, provides a stimulating and joyful experience for the aging parent.

Or, simply taking advantage of the many opportunities that can be had in the seemingly mundane day-to-day life at home finding unexpected precious moments with your parent—opportunities that would be lost, or few and far between, if the parent was living away from home.

It’s not all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, but in the end, this can be a journey that's rewarding for the cared, as well as the caregiver.

  • Emeline Mann Sanchez
    Director
  • Emeline Mann Sanchez
    Writer
  • Emeline Mann Sanchez
    Producer
  • Mae Fong Mann
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 9, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese (Cantonese)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Emeline Mann Sanchez

Emeline’s sole focus is putting the spotlight on the art of caregiving.

In her documentaries—that have been officially selected, and awarded in film festivals in various countries near and far—Emeline shows what it can be like caring for an elderly parent and how it can be rewarding in unexpected scenarios for the parent and her/his/their adult children.

On the varied paths in her ongoing journey to expose the joys of caregiving, Emeline—while still in junior high school—was sought out to be an art director for an Easter Seals telethon broadcast in San Francisco (with a lot of help from her classmates); after uni, finessed her way into an impromptu internship at a local Oakland television station (the creative director just about cried "Uncle" after being bombarded by the imploring themes of Emeline’s short stories posing as letters); completed a yearlong apprenticeship at a local Berkeley radio station (the one that had a lot of growing pains and police interventions)—all leading to accidental filmmaker when her BFF, her dearest, sweetest mother left this world, the same mom she had been caregiving for over 10 years.

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Director Statement

Those familiar with Alzheimer's can see the contrast of a functioning patient and the latter stages of decline.

Come what may, it is ideal to be involved with your elderly parent(s) in her/his/their physical and emotional activities; this benefits the parent, as well as the children, and should the conditions be right, caring for your parents yourself can be transcendentally rewarding.

The joys of caring for your elderly parent at home is the day-to-day interactions that will go every which way it will; all things—the banal, the milestones, the good, the bad, and everything in between, would be lost or at best, few and far between if your parent was away from home.