Familiar Touch

New Directors Competition

Familiar Touch

Familiar Touch

USA 2024 Fiction cor 91 min.

Ruth Goldman, an older woman with dementia, leaves her home for a date. But what she thinks is a hotel turns out to be an assisted living facility, and she must contend with an array of new faces, routines, and surroundings as her own identities and desires shift. While Ruth resists identifying with her aging neighbors, she connects with the care workers there and is drawn towards her son, whom she mistakes for a suitor. A former cook, Ruth finds agency preparing meals in the facility kitchen. She slides into younger selves as she embraces the sensory experiences of the community’s activities and daily life. But when the reality of her situation sinks in, Ruth feels betrayed and flees the facility in search of something familiar.

Winner of the best direction and best actress for Kathleen Chalfant of the Horizons section competition and the Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis award for best debut film at the Venice International Film Festival.

USA aging identity female directors international film festivals awarded films

direction

Sarah Friedland

screenplay

Sarah Friedland

cinematography

Gabe. C Elder

editing

Aacharee “Ohm” Ungsriwong, Kate Abernathy

sound design

Eli Cohn

production design

Stephanie Osin Cohen

cast

Kathleen Chalfant, Carolyn Michelle, Andy Mcqueen, H. Jon Benjamin

production

Alexandra Byer, Matthew Thurm, Sarah Friedland

produced by

Rathaus Films, Go for Thurm

world sales

Memento International

contact

[email protected]

distribution

Imovision

indicative rating

14