Michael Rossato-Bennett

Don’t miss special showings of ALIVE INSIDE at Campbell’s Camera 7

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Dan Cohen (RightI in ALIVE INSIDE
Dan Cohen (Right) in ALIVE INSIDE

Bay Area readers: If you’re going to take my advice and see the emotionally powerful and Oscar-worthy Alive Inside this weekend, try to attend one of the special screenings at Camera 7 Pruneyard in Campbell. Dan Cohen, the founder of Music & Memory, the non-profit that  pulls Alzheimer’s patients out of their isolation with gifts of iPods, will take Q&As after the 2:30 and 4:45 shows on Saturday, August 9.  Director Michael Rossato-Bennett will be present after the 2:30 and 4:45 shows on Sunday, August 10.  And Camera 7 is collecting any music players that you may wish to donate to Music & Memory.

ALIVE INSIDE: people astonishingly transformed by music

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Alive InsideAlive Inside is one of the most emotionally powerful documentaries that I’ve EVER seen.  Seemingly miraculously, Alzheimer’s patients are transformed by music.  The music doesn’t cure Alzheimer’s, but it pulls the patients out of isolation, helps them relate to other people and brings them joy.

Alive Inside tells the story of a solitary guy, Dan Cohen, and his tiny non-profit Music & Memory, which distributes iPods to Alzheimer’s patients.  Michael Rossato-Bennett filmed Cohen’s work to prepare a video for Music & Memory.  That original six-and-a-half minute video went viral.  Rossato-Bennett realized that he had the beginnings of a movie, and, several years later, Alive Inside is the result.

Alive Inside won an  Audience Award at Sundance, and I think that Alive Inside will be one of the two favorites for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.  It’s already on my list of Best Movies of 2014 – So Far.

All that aside, it’s a riveting film – and an example of the power of cinema.   It’s impossible not to be moved when people essentially recover their humanity.  And when you leave the theater, you’ll likely be thinking about making sure that your kids have your playlist.