“Three Bagel Sunday” is a meditative, first-person documentary film of one elderly woman’s life inside the Traditions Alzheimer’s & Other Dementia Care Unit at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville, California. Borrowing the structure of James Joyce’s Ulysses, “Three Bagel Sunday” is divided into eighteen vignettes, and reflects Lee’s day-to-day existence in the Unit. The film’s writer, director and producer, Scott Kirschenbaum, has taught improv to and performed stand-up comedy for nursing home residents across the country, and has written profiles of the elderly for The Yale Journal of Humanities in Medicine. He told me more about his film…

Scott, what logistical or creative (or other) challenges did you face filming in the Alhzeimer’s & Other Dementia Care Unit, or the nursing facility in general?

This was not an easy film to make. This was not an easy film to make. This was not an easy film to make. I cannot say that enough times.

The film was challenging for a number of reasons. It’s no easy task to film in an Alzheimer’s Unit. But that’s what made it so worth it. Fortunately, the facility where I filmed, Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living, is run by an amazing executive director, Dr. Janice Corran, who is very hip to the film world and had experience consulting on Deborah Hoffman’s Oscar-winning documentary “Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.”

Your film focuses on one particular resident at the facility. How did you choose her as your main subject?

Lee Gorewitz, the featured subject of this movie, is the single most compelling person I’ve ever met with Alzheimer’s disease. Originally, I was developing this project as a narrative script, but when I met Lee, everything changed. She’s a brilliant remarkable woman…a poet, a philosopher, a spirited tour-de-force, a lover of life. She has more energy and life in her than most twenty-somethings I know.

What do you hope your audience members bring to the film, and what do you hope they take away?

For those living with Alzheimer’s, the cognitive deterioration is simply devastating. It can also be extremely painful for friends and family. As more people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s each year, the need for increased research to develop effective prevention and treatment options becomes even more urgent.

“Three Bagel Sunday” is a documentary film which will provide larger and younger audiences with greater awareness of what Alzheimer’s disease is and what can be done about it. Our hope is that this film will enable audiences, young and old alike, to engage with the themes of aging and illness in ways that recognize the vulnerability of the mind while simultaneously appreciating the resiliency of the spirit.

What documentary film do you consider a must-see?

The films that had the greatest impact on me while developing “Three Bagel Sunday” were Frederick Wiseman’s “Titticut Follies” and Philip Gröning’s “Into Great Silence”.

What other films have you made?

I am in post-production on “Elementary Cool”, a short film that explores hierarchy, friendship and even global politics as experienced by 9-year-olds on a school playground. Additionally, I’ve made the films “Jumor: A Journey through Jewish Humor”, concerning Jewish humor in Jewish nursing homes; “Uphill”; “The Broceanographer”; and “Good Times Goodbye.”

What motivated you to become a member of Fractured Atlas?

Fractured Atlas seemed to be a very approachable fiscal sponsor and I’ve been quite satisfied over my last two years as a member.

Do you have any pipe-dream projects kicking around in your head?

Every film I make feels like a pipe-dream project! I’ve got one I’m developing a few years down the road that’ll take place all over the Middle East, and it promises to be intense.

Is there any advice that you would give to a filmmaker at the start of their career?

Take whatever money you’ve got and make a film. Make a few of them. Make sure they matter to you and that you’re willing to invest everything you’ve got into them because making independent films is a 24/7 kinda job and it’s not a profession for the weary. Keep after it.

What’s next on your professional horizon?

I’m currently developing a documentary film in Southeast Asia and and a narrative feature in NYC.

“Three Bagel Sunday” is currently in post-production. It will soon be submitted to festivals and will premiere next spring. Get updates from the film’s website: threebagelsunday.com.