September every year is World Alzheimer’s Month, and World Alzheimer’s Day took place yesterday. It’s an observance established in 1994 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). The purpose of this day is to spread information about the impact of this neurodegenerative disorder, raise awareness of the situation faced by patients and their families, and promote both scientific research and access to essential health services.
Currently, dementia is one of the leading public health issues and a major cause of dependency among the elderly. According to official WHO statistics, in 2021 more than 57 million people worldwide were living with this condition, and nearly 10 million new cases are reported each year.
Given that Alzheimer’s disease accounts for between 60% and 70% of these diagnoses, it is clear that we must all make an effort to respond urgently and decisively to this global challenge.
In light of this situation, and as part of the awareness-raising efforts for World Alzheimer’s Day and Month, we have selected five feature-length documentaries that address the disease from a rigorous, respectful, and deeply human perspective.
These productions aim to demystify the disease and analyze the daily realities of patients, as well as the technical and emotional challenges faced by their families and the latest scientific advances.
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Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember
United States, 2025
We begin our World Alzheimer’s Day selection with Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember. Directed by British filmmaker Tom Barbor-Might and released worldwide via National Geographic, this intimate documentary follows actor Chris Hemsworth on a road trip across Australia with his father, Craig, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
Through this journey, the 51-minute-long feature film explores how reminiscence therapy — the act of evoking meaningful memories through places, music, and objects from the past — and constant cognitive stimulation can slow the progression of the disease. According to Dr. Suraj Samtani, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Healthy Brain Aging at UNSW Sydney and a consultant for the film, this method is a form of training designed to keep the mind active and help people reconnect with their identity.
While Barbor-Might’s mission focuses on promoting prevention and action in the area of brain health, the documentary stands out for the family’s emotional honesty and for being an authentic portrait of human fragility.
Overall, Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember becomes a landmark work because it debunks the myth of isolation, making it clear that family companionship, constructive affection, and community support are invaluable therapeutic tools.
Taking Care
United States, 2024
Directed by award-winning filmmaker James Keach, Taking Care is a 38-minute documentary that shines a light on a reality that often goes unnoticed: the emotional impact and daily challenges faced by those who become caregivers for a family member with Alzheimer’s.
Through interviews with family members and medical experts, the film highlights the exhaustion, frustration, and isolation experienced by primary caregivers, underscoring the need to build effective support networks so that no family has to face this situation alone.
La Memoria Infinita (The Eternal Memory)
Chile, 2023
We continue our selection with La Memoria Infinita (The Eternal Memory), the acclaimed Chilean documentary directed by Maite Alberdi and nominated for an Oscar.
Running at 84 minutes, this moving film chronicles the daily lives of renowned journalist Augusto Góngora and his wife, actress and former Minister of Culture Paulina Urrutia, and paints a portrait of their life together eight years after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
This feature film is a master class on the persistence of identity through affection. Alberdi masterfully interweaves home videos from the past with the routine of the present, demonstrating that, although logical memory and specific details begin to fade, emotional memory—that which is linked to deep bonds, music, complicity, and shared love—remains intact as an unshakable refuge for the person affected.
As the director explains in an interview with the newspaper La Tercera: “The point of view of this film is that Augusto Góngora, right up until the end, always remembers things. He always remembers Paulina, even today, in different ways. He always remembers certain historical events; he always remembers things that happened to him in his relationship. There are details he forgets, but there are things that remain in the body, and you can see that.”
One of the great achievements of La Memoria Infinita is balancing the harsh reality of Alzheimer’s with unconditional tenderness. It is deeply moving in its demonstration that, even amid the collapse of the mind, true love always finds a way to survive.
Our Dementia Choir
United Kingdom, 2019
The BBC’s project, Our Dementia Choir, led by actress Vicky McClure, documents the creation of a choir made up exclusively of people with various types of dementia and demonstrates the powerful impact that group singing has on their well-being.
Through music and weekly rehearsals, this two-part project shows how participants not only reactivate areas of their brains related to reward and emotions, but also rediscover talents they thought were lost and forge a community filled with mutual support and a sense of belonging.
The production includes assessments conducted by various specialists, who monitor the participants using brain scans and advanced imaging studies. From a medical perspective, it demonstrates how this collective activity reduces anxiety, improves mood, and breaks the cycle of isolation.
In honor of World Alzheimer’s Day, this documentary is essential because it proves that music therapy is an accessible and highly effective treatment for improving patients’ daily lives.
时光机 (Our Time Machine)
China, 2019
The acclaimed Chinese documentary 时光机 (Our Time Machine), directed by S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun, tells the story of artist Maleonn, who decides to create a play featuring life-size mechanical puppets in an attempt to preserve the memories of his father, a former theater and opera director diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
These fascinating robotic structures with large glass eyes function as a true “time machine” designed to travel back to the family’s past. Through this collaborative creative project, the artist seeks to pay tribute to his father while he is still alive and to keep the spark of his identity alive.
“My father’s disease — which has resulted in him losing his cherished memories — reminds me that everything in this world is fragile. Nothing lasts forever”, the artist shared in an interview with the Alzheimer’s Association. “I hope everyone knows one thing: Time takes everything away. You can’t turn back the clock. We must cherish every moment we have now, today.”
Throughout the feature-length film, the complexities faced by the family are depicted: the initial fear upon diagnosis, the challenges of caregiving, and uncertainty about the future. However, in the midst of this difficult process, the film demonstrates that art and manual labor are cognitive stimuli capable of reawakening the imagination and igniting sensitivity when logical memory begins to fade.