37 minutes / Color
Release: 1998
Copyright: 1998
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY, ACADEMY AWARD WINNER
The longings for love and intimacy are never-ending. This Academy-Award winning documentary offers an extraordinary look at the emotional lives of elderly Americans. On stage, a drama group of seniors perform their roles with energy and laughter. Off stage, their lives are often lived alone, and in silence.
The Personals follows a group of senior citizens 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 the personal ads. As the rehearsals progress, the filmmaker's camera follows the individual members of the group into their homes, as it explores both the joys and the sorrows of growing old in America. The video paints a surprisingly humorous and in-depth portrait of a segment of our society whose inner lives are not often explored.
"A group of now single senior citizens living on Manhattan's Lower East Side speak with touching candor about love and loss in the years when middle age is a fond memory." —TIME Magazine
"Strongly Recommended. A solid choice for aging collections." —Video Librarian
"Draws a humorous and in-depth portrait of seniors." —Library Journal
"A sweet snapshot of America's elderly, The Personals is a delicate look at loneliness and the life lessons collected by a group of energetic senior citizens." —Variety
Select Accolades
Academy Award winning portrait of poet and journalist Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio in childhood and spent much of his life in an iron lung.
Jessica Yu | 1996 | 35 minutes | Color | English | English subtitles
Meet the inhabitants of the "Casa di Riposa" in Milan, the world's first nursing home for retired opera singers, founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1896.
Daniel Schmid | 2014 | 87 minutes | Color | Italian | English subtitles
