FAMILIAR TOUCH Discovery

Both screening to be followed by a conversation with director, producer and writer Sarah Friedland.

Billed as a “coming-of-old-age” story, filmmaker Sarah Friedland considers the fears and desires of those who are often relegated to the periphery in cinema and society in her poignant feature debut. Ruth (played by a magnificent Kathleen Chalfant), an aging widow and retired professional cook, suffers from dementia. No longer able to recognize her loved ones, she is checked into an assisted living facility by her reluctant, conflicted son (H. Jon Benjamin of BOB’S BURGERS fame in an understated dramatic turn), and thus begins a rocky, uncertain transition into the next chapter of her twilight years. Filmed on location at Villa Gardens, a Pasadena retirement community, with a mix of non-professional and professional actors, Friedland’s compassionate and delicate lens allows gestures and movement to come to the forefront, as Ruth grapples with her shifting relationships with caregivers, her son and her memory loss. FAMILIAR TOUCH earned acclaim at Venice, winning the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film, along with the Orizzonti Awards for Best Director and Best Actress (Chalfant). –Anna Li