Before We Forget
Encyclopedia
Before We Forget is a 2011 observational documentary film
about two women with dementia
who live in an Asian society where terminal illnesses and dying remain taboo. It is directed by Singaporean first-time filmmakers Jeremy Boo and Lee Xian Jie, who have also started an online platform that encourages people in Asia to share their experiences about dementia.
for 7 years. When Celine suffers a mild stroke
and is hospitalized for over three months, Joyce attempts to keep herself together especially after Celine lost all what little speech and she originally had. The duo, staunch Catholics, keep their heads above the emotional turmoil through daily prayer.
The documentary also captures frank interviews with Dr Irene Giam (PhD), a former mathematics tutor and atheist with strong views about death in the face of terminal illness
. She is first filmed after being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment
likely due to systemic fibrosis, an autoimmune disorder which affects her breathing. After she is warded in a hospice because of her rapidly worsening health, vascular dementia causes her to forget the frequent visits by her husband and deepens her feelings of loneliness .
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about two women with dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
who live in an Asian society where terminal illnesses and dying remain taboo. It is directed by Singaporean first-time filmmakers Jeremy Boo and Lee Xian Jie, who have also started an online platform that encourages people in Asia to share their experiences about dementia.
Synopsis
The film tells the story of Joyce Fernandez, a 50-year-old woman caring for her mother Celine Fernandez, who has had Alzheimer's DiseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
for 7 years. When Celine suffers a mild stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and is hospitalized for over three months, Joyce attempts to keep herself together especially after Celine lost all what little speech and she originally had. The duo, staunch Catholics, keep their heads above the emotional turmoil through daily prayer.
The documentary also captures frank interviews with Dr Irene Giam (PhD), a former mathematics tutor and atheist with strong views about death in the face of terminal illness
Terminal illness
Terminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
. She is first filmed after being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment
Mild cognitive impairment
Mild cognitive impairment is a brain-function syndrome involving the onset and evolution of cognitive impairments beyond those expected based on the age and education of the individual, but which are not significant enough to interfere with their daily activities...
likely due to systemic fibrosis, an autoimmune disorder which affects her breathing. After she is warded in a hospice because of her rapidly worsening health, vascular dementia causes her to forget the frequent visits by her husband and deepens her feelings of loneliness .