Third Annual Legacy Film Festival on Aging celebrates older adulthood June 7–9

The festival’s lineup includes two films nominated for Academy Awards this year, “King’s Point” and “Henry.” “The Personals,” Oscar winner for Best Short Documentary in 1999, will also be shown. “Kings Point” director Sari Gilman will participate in a Q&A after the June 7 screening with representatives of SF Village and Living Well.

Each of the seven screening sessions features films exploring a unique theme: Housing Choices as We Age, Individuality, A Tribute to an Aging Parent, Physicality, Creativity, Memory, and Love and Sex. A discussion follows each session.

“We have a fantastic lineup of film portraying midlife and older adults, including animated, short and full-length features and documentaries — poignant, celebratory and, yes, even funny!” said Sheila Malkind, Legacy Film Festival on Aging founder and director. “Films on aging have become legit. Two films about the later stages of life were nominated for this year’s Academy Awards: ‘Kings Point’ and ‘Amour.’ Not only are films on aging legit — so, too, is aging! In the U.S., 10,000 men and women turn 60 every day.”

Film programs

The Legacy Film Festival on Aging kicks off June 7 at 5:30 p.m. with three films on Housing Choices as we Age. “The Silver Age” explores implications in Japan, Tunisia and Indonesia. Excerpts from “Being Old and Active” will be shown, exposing communal living for immigrants in the Netherlands. The 2013 Academy Award nominee for Short Documentary, “Kings Point,” follows, telling the stories of five seniors living in a typical American retirement resort — men and women who came to Florida decades ago with their spouses and health intact, now grappling with love, loss and the universal desire for human connection.

The festival’s second day begins at 10:30 a.m. with a session titled Individuality. “Hi, Lillian” is a comic narrative short about an elderly woman who discovers a warm, accepting community in an unlikely place. “Hit the Road, Granny! (Hit the Road, Nonna!)” is an hour-long Italian documentary about a woman who spent her life traveling the world and became a groundbreaking entrepreneur in ready-to-wear fashion, but felt abandoned by her family.

The Icelandic feature “Mamma Gógó” screens at 1 p.m. Fictional yet semi-autobiographical, it focuses on writer-director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson’s personal journey, from experiencing his mother’s Alzheimer’s disease to his personal and financial difficulties when his previous film on aging fails to gather an audience.

Five short films on Physicality screen at 3 p.m.: “Aquadettes,” “ParaGrinding,” “Slomo,” Louie, Louie” and “Grasping the Bird’s Tail.” A tai chi workshop led by SF State instructor Patrick Ryan follows.

Sunday, June 9, begins with a session on Creativity at 10:30 a.m. “Eric Smith: Not Finished Yet” is an Australian documentary about the long-forgotten abstractionist, who is on a mission to “go out with a bang, rather than a whimper.” “The Gambling Man” is a profile of Albert Hurwit, an 80-year-old retired doctor who can’t read or write music but composes an award-winning symphony. “Kaziah, The Goat Woman” is about a goat rancher who makes paintings of deceased American soldiers and gives them to their families.

The Memory session begins at 1 p.m. with an animated film: the Argentinian documentary “Abuelas” followed by a nonverbal short, “Paper Memories.” Yan England’s Academy Award-nominated documentary from Canada, “Henry,” focuses on an elderly concert pianist who undergoes a series of confusing experiences as he searches for his wife. The session concludes with “The Sum Total of Our Memory,” a documentary about couples affected by a partner’s recent diagnosis of early Alzheimer’s disease. Director Barbara Klutinis and a representative from the Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California and Northern Nevada will be present.

The Legacy Film Festival on Aging closes June 9 with a program beginning at 3:30 p.m., delving into Love and Sex through animation, documentary and comedy. Keiko Ibi’s “The Personals” is the highlight. This Academy Award-winning documentary follows a group of older adults as they rehearse and present an original play at a community theater on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Drawn from the comedy and drama of their own lives, the play is structured around their quest for dates through personal ads. A cute short, “A Senior Moment,” deals with senior sexting.

Tickets for each screening are $9 each if purchased in advance online and $12 at the door. A festival pass is available for $40. Visit The Legacy Film Festival on Aging web page or call 415-338-2467.