(Im)mortals

Contrary to the public stereotype of a youthful homosexual community, gay men and women do grow old. Silent Pioneers presents an upbeat focus on the lives of these people today, showing them living full and diverse lives and sharing concerns on ageing, health and housing, with other senior citizens. It also considers how support networks within the gay and lesbian community have enriched and strengthened their individual lives.

For over 80 years, Merle Hayden has crusaded to recruit members to the utopian movement Lawsonomy. Founded by aircraft pioneer Alfred Lawson, Lawsonomy advocates for economic reform and clean, communal living that transforms followers into a "New Species" that will benefit the human race either in this life or the next. Merle joined Lawson as a teenager and never looked back. His high school sweetheart Betty Kasch, however, is tired of Lawson coming between them. Reunited after over 60 years apart, non-believer Betty wants Merle to join her in Florida. Merle's commitment to preserving Lawson's legacy, artifacts currently rotting in a barn alongside a Wisconsin highway, has Betty worried Merle may leave her for Lawson once again.

Explores the latest longevity research and whether dramatically extended human lifespan is achievable. Features top scientists, startup leaders, celebrities, and critics offering balanced perspectives on this fascinating field.

When filmmaker Debra Chasnoff faces stage-4 cancer, she turns her lens on herself and the disease. What emerges is a portrait of her extended LGBTQ family —a story about hanging on while letting go.

Can Homo sapiens evolve into Homo spatius? For over 50 years now, we have been testing our human nature in our effort to conquer outer space, and still 30 years away from a possible human exploration of Mars, a question remains: Can our body take such travels? Will it ever adapt? Combining human adventure and the exploration of the human body, this film offers unique insights into the physical and psychological effects of space travel on the Astronauts and measures the impact on medical sciences.

The threat of dementia is affecting more and more people. As they slowly lose their memories and physical abilities, music proves to be a miraculous source of comfort, vitality, and hope. How is it, for example, that people with dementia often remember music longer than their own names?

Who Wants to Live Forever, the Wisdom of Aging is a one hour documentary film about the myths, facts and contradictions in the never-ending battle for both longevity and healthy aging.

Shot over the course of 18 months in New York City's Lower East Side, METHADONIA sheds light on the inherent flaws of legal methadone treatments for heroin addiction by profiling eight addicts, in various stages of recovery and relapse, who attend the New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services (NYCATS).

A dash of youth, a pinch of age, and an unrecorded recipe: Mudder's Hands is a charming documentary conversation about arthritis, centered around the tradition of baking Newfoundland raisin bread.

A documentary in which retired industrial workers reflect on the promises and anxieties of retirement. Beginning with the Budd Company’s “Retirement Ceremony” in Philadelphia, the film explores how leaving work can mean the loss of routine, identity, and a sense of accomplishment, even as it marks a long-anticipated milestone.

In a nursing home, a young man visits his grandmother. As she constantly repeats that she wants to go home, his grandson visits her now empty apartment, seeking to capture memories of a fading past.

mommy forever

Defying modernity, 90-year-old Agatha forges a solitary existence on her ancestral farm preserving heirloom seeds.

Mary Bauermeister is considered the mother of the Fluxus movement. In an attic on Cologne's Lintgasse, she made art history in the early 1960s alongside personalities such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Nam June Paik. Today, at the age of 85, she has no intention of stopping. From morning till night, this extraordinary artist works in her studio near Cologne: a magical place.

Alzheimer's: Every Minute Counts is an urgent wake-up call about the national threat posed by Alzheimer's disease. Many know the unique tragedy of this disease, but few know that Alzheimer's is one of the most critical public health crises facing America. Because of the growing number of aging baby boomers, and the fact that the onset of Alzheimer's is primarily age-related, the number of Alzheimer's case is predicted to skyrocket in the United States. This will not only be a profound human tragedy, but an overwhelming economic one as well. Due to the length of time people live with the illness and need care, it's the most expensive medical condition in the U.S. Future costs for Alzheimer's threaten to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and the life savings of millions of Americans.

Francis "Frank" Piliero, at the age of 78, explores his lifelong relationship with hockey and what healthy aging means to him.

At 18, right after the Second World War, Birgitta Stenberg bought a one-way ticket to Europe. Far from Sweden, she plunges into a wild life with bohemians from around the world. She falls in love, gets exploited, takes drugs, and exploits others. Her life is forever shaped by these years and these people. A life on the fringe. In The Wild Ones she travels to places like New York, Paris and Rome, returning to former lovers of both sexes. They face their choices and the consequences. Was it truly free to live like that? Was it worth it?

François, Renée, Gisèle, Sylvain. These seniors do not have much in common, but their lives have been shaped by episodes of abandonment, rejection, or fear. Some still live in invisibility, afraid of how others will look at them. Loneliness weighs heavily. For others, living with HIV has worn down their bodies, and old age arrives more quickly. Then there is a hope: that of a house in Lyon where they will finally be able to be themselves. A place where it will be possible to grow old without ever having to hide again. There is that family we choose for ourselves. The feeling that a new chapter is opening—the last one—filled with promise, and with the boldness of all those first times we finally allow ourselves, so late in life. But when it comes to becoming visible, the fears accumulated over a lifetime are never far away. And they come to pull our courageous dreamers back from their dream: should they take the leap?

Death may be the only certainty human beings, but what is it like to assume it firsthand, how to imagine it, and decode its meaning when it gets closer. SIN is a documentary essay on transcendence and human dignity.

A lighthouse keeper prepares his earthly funeral while trying to reconnect with his inner elf. Hulda and Trausti have shared a roof on the Icelandic coast for over seventy years. Her love of books is matched by his love of stones. When he tells her he wants to change his name to Elf she warns him that the family will reject him. Now, as his one hundredth birthday nears and Trausti senses the hand of death upon him, he is searching for an elf’s coffin…