‘Alzheimer’ wins Bronze Palm at Saudi Film Festival

[gallery size="full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="56353,56354"]By Shahd Alhamdan JEDDAH — “Alzheimer,” a short documentary that highlights the disease’s stages and patients’ suffering, won the Bronze Palm in the short documentary section during the Saudi Film Festival. The short documentary is the latest work of director Abdulrahman Sandokji, after his short Saudi film “Phosphine” reached more than 3.5 million views on YouTube. The documentary’s first screening was held in Riyadh on May 12 and it will be screened on May 24 in Ana Ghair Mall in Jeddah. On June 1 it will be screened in the the Eastern Province. "Alzheimer" seeks to raise awareness on the disease through interviews with several doctors and patients' family members, aiming to provide a brighter future for the patients and their families by educating society about the disease in the Kingdom. In an interview with Sandokji, he explained that the Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Association contacted him after the success of “Phosphine” and expressed their desire to produce a film with the same formula about Alzheimer's disease. “The main formula was to produce an investigative documentary that shows real cases with the participation of experts and decision makers to provide awareness and a dose of reality to viewers,” he said. Sandokji said one of the main struggles that his team faced during the preproduction and production phases was finding patients willing to appear on camera. “We faced a lot of refusals because of the conservative society we live among. We also insisted that patients' mother or father also appear in the film. We hope that this film will provide awareness and better understanding of the disease," he said.ˇ