APR 13, 2012 – A new documentary, "Alive Inside", follows Dan Cohen around as he travels to around to nursing homes in America and plays music from their era for elderly patients suffering from dementia, and incredibly the people who before didn't respond either physically or verbally are magically transformed by the music and become animated, and suddenly move around and become very vocal. The film is produced and directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, and is commissioned by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and will premiere on April 18th.
The documentary hopes to shed light on the experience on what not many of us talk about; the alienation of the elderly at nursing homes. The filmmakers also want to explore the issue of what compounds it and makes it worse, dementia. The WHO predicts that worldwide dementia cases will triple by 2050. They say the film "tells the story of hope and beauty in a place where they are hard to find". Check out the film's website here, and watch a clip of Henry below coming alive as he listens to Cab Calloway and other music from his era, and watch the awakening or "quickening", and even the spiritual magic as he describes God and love coming into him as he listened to the music.
