
Independent Lens
Camp Widow
At Camp Widow, every attendee, volunteer, speaker, and staff member has lost their partner; together they find camaraderie and unexpected joy.
Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s explores how three families confront the challenges of Alzheimer’s, focusing on how the disease transforms identities and relationships.
Anna Moot-Levin is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer, and editor with a passion for stories about health and healthcare. Her debut documentary, The Providers, aired on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2019. She is also an associate producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary Inside Job (2010). She is based in Brooklyn.
Laura Green is an award-winning documentary director and editor based in San Francisco. Her debut documentary, The Providers, aired on Independent Lens in 2019. She edited When I Write It, which premiered at Tribeca in 2020, and the IDA award-nominated web-series The F-Word. She is an associate professor at San Francisco State University.
David Alvarado is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, focusing on biographies in science, health, and the arts. His past PBS work includes Bill Nye: Science Guy (POV), Matter of Mind (Independent Lens), Blood Sugar Rising (WGBH), and Secrets in your Data (NOVA). He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Jason Sussberg is a Bay Area-based documentary filmmaker. He has produced and directed several theatrical documentaries that have broadcast on PBS and streamed on Netflix and Amazon. His work includes The Immortalists (2014), Bill Nye: Science Guy (2017), and We Are As Gods (2021).
Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS.
Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s is the final installment in a series on neurodegenerative diseases, centering on three families living with Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that causes significant memory loss, speech difficulties, and behavioral shifts.
Andrea is a single woman in her 30s, living in a small Michigan town. When her mother, Kristy, is diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s disease, Andrea becomes her primary caregiver. As Kristy’s illness progresses, Andrea searches for a way to move to a larger city where they can connect with a broader community and find more support. Carlos Olivas III must move home to Sacramento when he unexpectedly becomes a caregiver for his father who begins experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms. After a difficult period of acclimation, Carlos embraces his role and ultimately becomes an advocate for caregivers at the California State Capitol. His father, in his 80s, reignites his artistic passion and immerses himself in drawing each day as his condition progresses. Living in New York City, Janice and Sue have been a dynamic couple for over four decades. Sue’s symptoms began about 10 years ago, and Janice balances her own work as a theater director and tour guide with her caregiving for Sue. The pair surmounts obstacles with humor and flexibility, though the progression of the illness threatens their equilibrium.
The film explores how disease impacts identities and relationships—when one partner becomes a caregiver or how both parent and child are transformed when the traditional role of provider is reversed. These participants remain anchored by profound and loving bonds amidst financial, logistical, and emotional obstacles.
We’ll send you funding deadlines, events, and film news.
Connect with us now at itvs@itvs.org.