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Intergenerational

  • The Adult Years: Continuity and Change - My Mother, My Daughter, My Self (1985, 28 minutes, color) Compares expectations, perceptions and attitudes about values and family roles as they differ among generations, ethnic groups and communities. (Penn State Audio Visual Services)
  • Andre’s Lives (1998, 55 minutes, color) Reaching beyond conventional portrayals of the Holocaust’s legacy, Andre’s Lives explores the tension between the collective obligation to remember and the personal need to forget. The last surviving member of the secret and illegal Jewish “Working Group” in Slovakia andre Steiner helped save over 7000 Jews from deportation to Auschwitz (almost six times as many as Schindler). After testifying before a war-crimes tribunal against one Nazi andre emigrated to Atlanta, rebuilt his life, becoming a successful architect. But he chose never to look back, or share his story. The cost of his secret was his marriage, distance from his tow sons and a sacrifice of emotional connections. Now, at 89, he returns to Europe with his sons to grapple with traumatic memories for the first time. During the film he begins to forge new relationships with his sons and his past. His resistance to exploring his history unfolds on camera through a complex dynamic, as father and sons struggle to make sense of the present by wrestling with the past. Purchase: $275 Rental: $75 (First Run/Icarus Films)
  • Because Somebody Cares (1979, 27 minutes) An award winning video on how lives are enriched when young and old form friendships with each other. Done in a documentary style, this video shows real-life vignettes of volunteers, young and old, as they visit their elderly friends. Capturing sensitive moments of exchange between these friends, the video is definitely upbeat in character and motivational in effect. Purchase: $135. Rental: $35. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Beloved Strangers: Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer’s Disease (2003, 25 minutes) Four million people in America now suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease and with the aging of the Boomers, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s is expected to double within the next decade.  Caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is one of the most difficult of all caregiving roles.  This video profiles three stories, among them, a young physician and newly-wed in Staten Island and a sandwich-generation family in Arizona.  Learn how to prepare for and live alongside this illness.  Purchase: $125 (Magna Systems)
  • Big Sonia (2016,1 hour and 33 minutes) In the last store in a defunct shopping mall, 91-year-old Sonia Warshawski – great-grandmother, businesswoman, and Holocaust survivor – runs the tailor shop she’s owned for more than 30 years. But when she’s served an eviction notice, the specter of retirement prompts Sonia to resist her harrowing past as a refugee and witness to genocide. A poignant story of generational trauma and healing, BIG SONIA also offers a laugh-out-loud-funny portrait of the power of love to triumph over bigotry, and the power of truth-telling to heal us all. Purchase: $4.99 amazon (Big Sonia)  
  • Bubbeh Lee and Me (1996, 35 minutes, color) What can a grandchild and grandparent discover through one another? When the filmmaker arrives in Florida to visit his feisty, 87-year-old Jewish grandmother and speaks with her heart to heart about love, death and his sexual orientation, their two worlds collide and the strength of their bond emerges. A spirited reflection on aging, identity, diversity and acceptance, this classic film examines the legacies passed through families and generations and proves that the journey of self-discovery can begin at any age. Purchase: $199 (for Colleges and Universities) OR $89 (for High Schools, Public Libraries and Community Groups) Rental: $75 (for all customers) (Films for the Humanities & Sciences) OR Rental: $75. Purchase: $199. Preview: $25 (Open Eye Pictures or New Day Films)
  • Chillysmith Farm (1981, 56 minutes, color) Chronicles four generations of a Pennsylvania family living together and caring for one another through birth and death, joy and tragedy. Points out the importance of family life in shaping personality and stresses the role of family members in affirming the worth of the individuals in such situations as a home birth and the aging and death of the grandparents. (Penn State Audio Visual Services)
  • Close Harmony (1981, 30 minutes) This film is again available for classroom use. A delightfully warm documentary, this film is about a senior citizens’ chorus and an elementary school chorus who join for a combined concert. When the music teacher who works with both groups discovers that the senior citizens become isolated from others by their own organizations and that the youngsters feel that “old people don’t like kids,” she plans to get the two groups together. First, they become “pen pals,” and then comes that exciting day when they meet for the first time. From there on, right through rehearsals and culminating in their concert, a bond forms to create a magical performance. This intergenerational film will move and inspire audiences and break down the stereotypical image of aging. Purchase: $195. Rental: $55. (Filmakers Library)
  • Cyberseniors (2009,1 hour and 15 minutes) A humorous and heartwarming feature documentary, CYBER-SENIORS adds to the important international conversation about the growing generation gap. Focusing on a group of senior citizens who take their first steps into cyber-space under the tutelage of teenage mentors, the film expertly renders a thought-provoking look at a spirited group of men and women who are enriched by digitally re-connecting with their families and each other. Finding their footing rather quickly, the group moves on to compete for the most YouTube views while swiftly building their online inventory of friends Purchase: $325 (for schools with a public performance license) Rent $3.99 (Cyberseniors) 
  • Daughter of the Bride (1997, 29 minutes) Takes a sensitive look at how one family deals with complex and ambivalent feelings when their 66-year-old recently widowed mother falls in love again and remarries. Purchase: $175. Rental: $50. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: An Overview (1998, 29 minutes) This video provides an overview of the symptoms and indications of Alzheimer’s Disease and considers treatments and interventions.  It reviews key features of Alzheimer’s disease across the continuum of its progression and considers the impact it and other dementia-causing diseases have on the family.  Purchase: $259 (Insight Media)
  • Divided Loyalties: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (1992, 28 minutes) This program shows how grandparents raising their grandchildren have helped themselves and how communities have supported their efforts.  It features professionals who work with grandparents, incarcerated mothers and crack-addicted parents.  Purchase: $179 (Insight Media)
  • Don’t Call Me Old (1987, 20 minutes) Meg Carpenter in her poem “Don’t Call Me Old,” shares her feelings of Senior citizens of today and tomorrow. With this theme in mind the video is an intergenerational special showing senior citizens working with young children in a childcare center. This video illustrates that being older does not mean being useless. Senior citizens do not want to be segregated from society and in the area of childcare the participation is not only welcomed, but needed. Purchase: $29.95. (NIMCO)
  • Family and Intergenerational Relationships (1993, 60 minutes) This program profiles older people as spouses and grandparents and looks at how elders help sustain family traditions and culture.  Older adults describe the satisfaction and stress of caring for spouses and frail parents.  Purchase: $99 (Insight Media)
  • From Generation to Generation: Disrupting Stereotypes in the Intergenerational Classroom (2017, 20 minutes) This mini documentary was filmed during the summer and fall of 2016 and features two intergenerational programs run by Baycrest Health Sciences and the Heschel School. The film, made by Dan Goodbaum, explores the richness and meaningful relationships that develop when linking older adults with youth. Purchase: free YouTube (Youtube) 
  • Gentle Connections (1989, 20 minutes) This video portrays an innovative "hands on hands" intergenerational program where pre-school children are helped to understand the process of aging by interacting with and giving hand massages to older adults in nursing homes and in adult day care centers. Designed to expand learning in an on-going intergenerational program where children and older adults sing, paint, read and cook together, the program can be carried out in a day care center, a school or in a facility for older adults. Purchase: $119. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (1994, 30 minutes) This 30 minute video explores this newly emerging social issue by sharing the stories of four grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. The video examines, through the stories that are shared in a support group, the major issues facing a grandparent as a parent. This video should be seen by all grandparents who are facing the prospect of caring full time for grandchildren and by those who have already become the primary caregiver. Help and support are available and this video can serve as a guide and an encouragement to grandparents who parent. Purchase: $145. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (2000, 23 minutes) It was supposed to be their golden years, a time to relax and spoil the grandchildren, yet for nearly four million grandparents across America, a new reality is taking shape. “Grandparents Raising Grandchildren,” tells the stories of three grandparents who have taken on sole responsibility for raising their children’s children. This hard-hitting investigation exposes some of the difficulties surrounding this growing phenomenon, but also profiles community programs which offer housing, counseling and financial services to grandparents—including a pioneering intergenerational housing development in Boston. Purchase: $175 (Fanlight Productions)
  • Growing Old in a New Age: 8 - Family and Intergenerational Relationships (1993, 60 minutes, color) Profiles elders as spouses and grandparents, examining how they sustain family traditions and culture. Older people describe the satisfaction and stress of caring for spouses and frail parents. (Penn State Audio Visual Services)
  • The Growing Season (2017,1 hour and 10 minutes) Evan Briggs spent the 2012-13 school year filming three days a week at the Intergenerational Learning Center for children 6 weeks to 5 years old inside Providence Mount St. Vincent, a retirement home for about 400 adults in West Seattle. Her first feature-length film, the growing season explores "the very real experience of aging in America -- both growing up and growing old. Purchase: Streaming $3.99, DVD $9.00
  • Growing Together – An intergenerational dance and documentary film project (2019, 6 minutes) Growing Together brought together children from Redbridge Primary School and the Remember to Dance in Redbridge group to take part in weekly dance workshops led by Green Candle artist Vicki Busfield, alongside documentary film making workshops led by an accessible film production team of Vita Terry and Joe Mannion. Purchase: free (on YouTube) (YouTube) 
  • H.O.M.E. There's No Place Like It (1992, 18 minutes) With actor Bill Murry as narrator-host, this video shows the workings of a model program for housing older adults in an intergenerational housing complex and highlights the benefits for each of the generations involved. Purchase: $135. Rental: $35. (Terra Nova Films)
  • The Hundred Penny Box (1979/198618 minutes) A beautiful, sensitive story of the relationship of a young African-American boy with his 100 year old great aunt and their conflict with his burdened mother. From the Newberry Honor Book of the same title by Sharon Bell Mathis. Recipient of the American Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival Awards. Purchase: $135. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • I Know A Song: A Journey With Alzheimer’s Disease (1986, 24 minutes) This artfully made documentary shows that Alzheimer’s disease need not be the end of a loving relationship. Filmmaker Brenda King stood by her mother from her first lapse through her decline. During the six years she cared for her mother at home, Brenda kept an emotional rapport with her, accepting her increasing limitations. She adapted to the changing role of being a “parent” to her mother. Her mother is now in a nursing home, showing great physical and mental decline. Undeterred, Brenda reaches out to her by song and touch. Sometimes she gets a response and sometimes not. But Brenda feels the bond of love continues between them. This upbeat film should be shown to caretakers of Alzheimer’s patients, both professionals and families. Purchase: $125 Rental: $50 (Filmakers Library)
  • In Search of Common Ground: The Seniors of Potomac Gardens (1993, 14 minutes) How will the next generation of African Americans understand the lives of their grandparents who were sharecroppers before they migrated North? This warm film blends the voiced and images of people recollecting a shared past. Seniors in a Washingtion D.C. residence reminisce about picking corn and cotton, raising chickens and doing other people’s laundry. Memories of the hardships are interwoven with memories of food and good times—mama’s fried chicken, revival meetings and courtships. Washington, with its bright lights and big city allure, was a break form the past. Times were tough and blacks faced discrimination, but life was better than what they had left behind. Today these spirited elders take pride in their common heritage and what they have achieved through hard work. Purchase: $150 Rental: $50 (Filmakers Library)
  • Just for the Summer (1990, 30 minutes) A teenager must come to terms with Alzheimer's disease when his grandmother comes to live with his family. Her mood swings and unpredictable behavior take an emotional toll on him and his parents. Only when Philip finally reminisces with his grandmother does he accept her condition and begin to learn some of the facts of Alzheimer's disease. His frustration and anger give way to compassion and understanding. Purchase: $295. Rental: $55. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Late Adulthood: The Social Convoy (2001, 29 minutes) Opening with an in-depth exploration of the social relationships that accompany the late adulthood through the final stage of the human life cycle, this video addresses the role and importance of personal relationships. It considers the unique characteristics and benefits of long-term marriages and discusses relationships with siblings, adult children and grandchildren. Purchase: $139 (Insight Media) OR Purchase: $89.95 (Magna Systems)
  • A Late Frost (1993, 55 minutes) Using explicit images, interviews with children, interviews with older adults and reflections of the late Gerhard Frost, this video takes the viewer on a poignant, inspiring exploration of what it feels like to grow old. The video is divided into ten sections that can easily be viewed separately to allow time for discussing each reflection on an aspect of the aging process. Purchase: $129. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Life Stories (45 minutes each) Mother to daughter, father to son, generation to generation – these critically acclaimed documentaries tell an epic story in intimate detail, presenting a powerful account of contemporary life through timeless, fundamental relationships.  Filled with moving moments of honesty from the broadest range of people, this three-part series explores the bonds that define us all. Purchase for all three: $399.95 – VHS or DVD
    • The Story of Mothers & Daughters (1993) Purchase: $149.95 – VHS or DVD (Films for the Humanities & Sciences)
    • The Story of Fathers & Sons (1999) Purchase: $149.95 – VHS or DVD (Films for the Humanities & Sciences)
    • Teens: That’s Another Story (2003) Purchase: $149.95 – VHS or DVD (Films for the Humanities & Sciences)
  • The Lillith Summer (1985, 28 minutes) Based on the award winning novel by Hadely Irwin, this film portrays the story of the meeting between 11 year old Ellen and 77 year old Lillith, the friendship that develops between them during the summer that they work together. Purchase: $195. Rental: $55. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Nana, Mom and Me (1980/2000, 47 minutes) Three generations of mothers and daughter in one family. What began as a film document (recording Nana before she died) evolves into the filmmaker’s search for her roots, her relationship with her family and her identity as a woman. Using photographs, old home videos and direct interviews. Amalie R. Rothschild explores the mother-daughter ties in three generations of her own family and in the process explores the classic female problem faced by her artist mother: the conflict between work and children – the necessary compromises, the incumbent anxieties. The structure is intentionally loose and open-ended, like a good conversation, emphasizing the need to ask the right questions rather than give pat answers. Purchase VHS: $99 (New Day Films)
  • One to One (1987, 24 minutes) This video shows the dynamic interactions between a group of teens and a group of older people. Through a series of dialogues the individuals in the two groups explore many issues including self-esteem, death, parenting, the aging process and the role of both older people and teens in society. Purchase: $189. Rental: $55. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Parenting Our Elderly Parents (2004, 100 minutes) This video details the case of an adult son who has lost his marital home and is living in his elderly mother’s home.  Patricia J. Pitta implements her theory of integral family therapy as she strives to support and enable the adult son in caring for his aging mother and also preserving his aging mother and also preserving his quality of life.  It covers setting boundaries, setting realistic goals and nurturing relationships.  Purchase: $149 – VHS (Insight Media)
  • The Sandwich Generation: Caring for Both Children and Parents (1995, 28 minutes, color) In this specially adapted Phil Donahue program, Hugh Downs joins senior citizens who don’t want their children to be “stuck” with them, but see no other way of survival, as well as members of the Sandwich Generation, some of whom resent having to care for their parents while others feel it is their duty. Purchase: $89.95. (Films for the Humanities & Sciences)
  • Share It With the Children (1988, 17 minutes) Shows a structured program that brings older adults into day care centers to interact with young children in shared activities. Purchase: $119. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Shared Visions (1989, 20 minutes) A group of older artists share their work, their philosophy and their continued aspirations with a group of high school art students. The older artists and the students are filmed both in the artists' studios and in the art studio of the high school. A unique intergenerational exchange takes place as the artists and the students discuss each other's work, philosophy and aspirations. Purchase: $79. Rental: $45. (Terra Nova Films)
  • Social and Cultural Foundations (1988, 30 minutes) This video explores the social and cultural foundations of age prejudice, intergenerational conflicts and elder abuse, considering such potentially causal factors as economic stress and drug abuse.  It provides numerous individual and group vignettes of counseling issues.  Purchase: $149 (Insight Media)
  • Social Roles and Relationships in Old Age (1993, 60 minutes) This video explores how the roles of family, friendship, work and leisure evolve with age. It examines the losses of social roles from retirement or death of a loved one and the pioneering of new roles. Purchase: $99 (Insight Media)
  • Stages: Intergenerational Theater on the Lower East Side (2009,1 hour and 22 minutes)  In New York City's oldest community center, a group of older Puerto Rican women and urban teenagers come together to create an original play out of the stories of their lives. Weaving together themes of immigration, identity, aging and coming of age, Stages offers an intimate portrait of an unlikely ensemble, transformed by the liberating power of their own stories-- first as they are spoken across generations, and later when they are performed for a sold-out show. Purchase: streaming $149.00, DVD $275.00 (Meerkat Media Collective) 
  • The Superpower of Intergenerational Living (2017, 20 minutes) The Stanford University Center for Longevity reports that there are three key areas associated with long life - financial security, health and social connections. Many cultures around the world have already figured this out and live naturally in a three-generation setting establishing the cultural norms, sharing traditions and life experiences, and creating safety to the community. There is reciprocity among the generations – a web of support. A strong community fabric is created providing all generations with a sturdy foundation to weather life’s trials and tribulations, and to celebrate life. Living in age silos creates a barrier to transferring important cultural information across the generational lines, causes disconnection between community and children, and puts parents and elders at risk for social isolation. Derenda is an advocate for intergenerational living and share her story and work in this talk. Purchase: Free on YouTube
  • To You Sweetheart, Aloha (2004, 57 minutes) Can life begin again at 94? After losing his wife and only daughter, Bill Tapia, the colorful 94-year-old Hawai’i-born ‘ukulele master, finds his muse in 26-year-old manager Alyssa. Through their unconventional friendship, Bill arrives unexpectedly at the pinnacle of his career, forging ahead after outliving nearly everyone he loves. This intimate film addresses the taboos of cross generational relationships and challenges the traditional notion of “graceful aging” with an entertaining yet poignant portrayal of a passionate elderly artist who continues to love, to grieve and to live life to its fullest well beyond society’s expectations. Purchase DVD and VHS: $275 (New Day Films)
Last updated: March 2021Date created: 2013

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