"Faces of Aging" is an interview film on the often avoided topic of aging. The conversations were initially commissioned for the exhibition FaltenReich – Über das Älterwerden in der Welt (Rich in Wrinkles – Aging Around the World) at the Ethnographic Museum in Leipzig. After the closing of the exhibition the interviews were edited into an omnibus film and published on DVD.

Several men, women and couples, commonly considered “old” or “elderly”, describe their personal experiences of aging. The conversations touch on experiences of bereavement and loss of partners and friends, loneliness, physical affliction, memories of the past and hopes for the future, dependence and independence, sexuality and new-found love, alternative living arrangements, and ultimately death.

This compilation of personal interviews does not embellish the facts and facets of aging, but the stories told are endearing and convey genuine moments of joy and gratitude for life - all of which make the prospect of aging seem far from depressing.

 

Co-director: Michaela Schäuble

Germany 2009

36 min.

Distribution: Staatliche Ethnographische Sammlungen Sachsen & Martin Gruber