- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
"When you realize the person you love
"most in the world has Alzheimer's,
half your life falls away in a moment."
Those are the words of one of the caregivers you'll meet
in tonight's film, Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's disease affects 7 million people
in the U.S. alone.
It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease
that affects cognitive abilities like memory,
the ability to think, and everyday behavior.
Those who suffer from the disease are affected
by losing their ability to not only take care of themselves,
but to communicate with the people they know the best.
There is no cure for Alzheimer's,
only treatments that can slow the progression
and help manage the effects.
This gripping and intimate documentary
tells the story of three people
who have been diagnosed with the disease
and how it affects their identities
and their relationships with their caregivers
and family members who face challenges,
which include financial and emotional stress.
Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's
is directed by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green.
Moot-Levin is a filmmaker
with a passion for stories about health and health care.
San Francisco-based Laura Green is a highly renowned
and award-winning documentarian as well.
Tonight's film is the third and final installment
of three documentaries
that focus on degenerative neurological diseases.
The first having dealt with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease,
Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's was the second.
Both films appeared on PBS.
In addition to the Matter of Mind trilogy,
Green and Moot-Levin teamed up to make The Providers,
which explored the rural health care crisis in America
and appeared on Independent Lens in 2019.
The documentary was viewed by almost 3 million people.
Moot-Levin says, "It's a tremendous responsibility
"to try to tell someone's story,
"and doing our best to meet that challenge
is always the hardest part of it."
Almost by definition, making documentary films
involves working closely with people
as they go through intense personal circumstances.
Both directors hope that after watching this film,
people realize that as a country,
we need to take better care of those with Alzheimer's
and find ways to do a better job of supporting caregivers.
Now, let's sit back and watch this film
about ordinary people facing difficult challenges
and stepping up to take care of those they love.
Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.