On Thursday, June 27th, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Henrietta Hankin Branch Library will hold a special intergenerational screening of Cycle of Memory, followed by a live virtual discussion with the filmmaker, Alex Leff. This award-winning documentary is about the filmmaker and his younger sibling’s bicycle adventure to find the memories their grandfather lost to Alzheimer’s. Their grandfather, Mel Schwarz, escaped the Great Depression on a bicycle adventure he would remember for the rest of his life. Guided by old photographs of the 1945 trip, his grandchildren search for places he had visited, now aged by time. But while searching for Grandpa Mel’s past, the two siblings are confronted with their own fraught history. If they are going to complete the turbulent journey, they will have to face their own emotional potholes and tumultuous relationship.
Cycle of Memory explores the importance of intergenerational connection, healing painful pasts, and leaving a meaningful time capsule for the future. Selected to be part of many film festivals nation-wide (including Sunset Film Festival of Los Angeles, Long Island International Film Festival, Knoxville Film Festival, Miami Jewish Film Festival and the Art of Bklyn Film Festival to name a few), this film’s unique perspective on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia has been resonating with diverse audiences, from Millennial caregivers to Senior Centers and Councils on Aging. Specifically, family members who have lost a parent to Alzheimer’s and have children of their own have been finding that the film’s uplifting message, emphasizing what can’t be forgotten, provides a blueprint for families to hold on to their connections despite aging and memory loss.
The event, which is co-sponsored by the Henrietta Hankin Branch Library together with Eagleview Landing Senior Living, will begin at 5:30 pm with light refreshments and the free raffling off of some prizes to in-person participants. The screening of the 72-minute long documentary will begin at 6:00 pm and be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, who will address the audience virtually via Zoom. Participants are welcome to join us virtually if they are not able to make it here in person.
We thank the Friends of the Henrietta Hankin Branch Library for their generous support in making this event possible. Registration is required. To register, visit https://ccls.libcal.com/event/11716130 or call the library at 610-344-4196. Henrietta Hankin Library supports PA Forward Health and Civic and Social Literacy.
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