WORLD PREMIERE - DOC NYC
Women in Caregiving • Dementia • Women's Solidarity • Aging • Gerontology • Psychology • Social Work • Nursing • End of Life
Date of Completion: 2024 | Run Time: 58 minutes | Language: English with Spanish subtitles | Captions: No | Includes: Transcript | Director: Deirdre Fishel | Producer: Tony Heriza | Editor: Flávia de Souza | Director of Photography: Eric Phillips-Horst | Composer: Chad Cannon
FACING THE WIND is the story of two women, whose lives are irrevocably changed by their husbands’ diagnosis with Lewy body dementia. Faced with isolation and confusion about the disease, Linda Szypula helps start a unique online support community for those with the disease—and for their caregivers. There she meets Carla Preyer and they bond deeply over their shared challenges and their dark humor. Their friendship and their extraordinary support group help them give their husbands loving care, cope with their grief, and emerge whole on the other side.
Educational Media Reviews Online | Reviewed by Ashley S. McGuire, Assistant Professor, STEM Librarian, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
"This documentary is highly recommended, both for educational purposes for future medical care providers and for the general public. Despite the terminal nature of a Lewy body dementia diagnosis, the families centered in this film display incredible bravery and devotion, ultimately choosing to celebrate the lives of their loved ones rather than dwelling in despair."
Director of WOMEN IN BLUE and FACING THE WIND
Deirdre Fishel is a producer/director of documentaries and dramas that have premiered in competition at Sundance, SXSW, AFI and Full Frame and have been broadcast in 35 countries worldwide. Fishel's most recent documentary, WOMEN IN BLUE, was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and will broadcast on PBS' Independent Lens in 2021. Her 2016 documentary CARE, which looks at the poignant but hidden world of home elder care was funded by ITVS, the Ford and MacArthur Foundations and broadcast on America Reframed. Deirdre is an Associate Professor and the director of the BFA in Film/Video at the City College of New York.