ALIVE INSIDE, Nursing Home Music Doc with Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett

BYOD: Bring Your Own Doc

Episode 172

Episode Synopsis

ALIVE INSIDE, the documentary that went viral with video of an old man in a nursing home reacting to music of his era, is shared with the trailer and footage from the film that explores the connection between young people, the elderly and music. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett discusses dementia, music’s healing power, and the future of the film in this BYOD interview, hosted by Ondi Timoner.

Guest Bio

ALIVE INSIDE is a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. This stirring documentary follows social worker Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, as he fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it. ALIVE INSIDE’s inspirational and emotional story left audiences humming, clapping and cheering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.

Michael Rossato-Bennett is the Writer, Director and Producer of ALIVE INSIDE – winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for U.S. Documentary – and through film he strives to incite conversations that interrogate issues related to cultural consciousness. In addition to ALIVE INSIDE, his first feature length offering, Rossato-Bennett has several documentaries in various stages of development, through his production company, Projector Media. Each of those projects is inspired by Michael’s dedication to the collective well being of society and progressive human change towards the greater, if not greatest, good.