Familiar Touch

Steve rings the doorbell at his mother Ruth's house, a charming retired chef. However, Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant) does not recognise her son and mistakes him for a former admirer. She thinks they have a date, but Steve has come to take her to a nursing home; Ruth suffers from dementia and it is getting worse. Once there, she feels lost and is convinced that she does not belong there. But gradually she begins to accept the warmth and support of the carers, even befriending two of them. And what she definitely hasn't forgotten is how to cook. Smells, sounds and touch prove to be her anchor in an increasingly confusing world.

This sensitive coming-of-old-age story, written by director Sarah Friedland herself, does not focus on what a dementia patient has lost, but rather shows what remains. At the Venice Film Festival, the film won three awards, including Best Actress, which went to Chalfant.