CONSCIOUS

About the film

A beautiful and haunting exploration of what happens when consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate. Conscious narrates the stories of Wendy Mitchell, Pegeen O’Sullivan, and Maureen Winfield who navigate dementia in transformative ways. Mirroring their journeys is the work of neuroscientist Anil Seth who has dedicated his career to studying consciousness, and finds his professional and personal life intersect as science becomes personal. With striking visuals and a rich, textured soundscape, Conscious invites audiences inside these altered landscapes of awareness, asking: what remains of us when our internal landscape fragments?

Writer, Director and Producer

Suki Chan

Suki Chan is a London based artist, film director and founder of Conscious Productions. Her films take audiences on an immersive journey, and shine a light on subjects that are under-represented across the human condition: from dementia, sight-loss, identity to belonging. Chan's passion is to change perception and build empathy for other people’s realities. Chan uses installation, moving image, photography and sound to explore our subjective perception of reality. Her mesmerising film works draws the viewer into a cinematic 'elsewhere' to investigate memory, belief and knowledge systems. Chan has filmed in diverse locations internationally including contested sacred sites in the Middle East; Senate House Library in London; Hagia Sofia in Istanbul; and rammed earth roundhouses in Yunnan province (associated with her Hakka heritage) in China.

Her debut feature documentary, CONSCIOUS is in development with support from the BFI Doc Society, Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund and Screen Scotland. CONSCIOUS explores the strength and frailty of the human mind and brings together the personal stories of three women living with dementia and a neuroscientist.

Chan's practice sits at the intersection of art and science and features dialogues with diverse communities from people living with dementia, blind and partially sighted people, meditators, to psychologists and neuroscientists. Chan seeks out narratives that explore alternative ways of looking at the world and stories that challenge and destabilise our understanding of perception and reality.

Producer

Teresa Grimes

Teresa Grimes bridges contemporary art and film/television. In the 1980s–90s, she worked as an editor, researcher, director, and producer, notably creating the Channel 4 series Five Women Painters and co-writing the accompanying book. She directed the award-winning short drama Ebb Tide and won the first Media Exchange New Producers Award.

In 2010, she founded London’s Tintype Gallery, curating exhibitions and events, and launched Essex Road, an annual moving image public art project for which she commissioned and executive produced 48 short films.

While running Tintype, she collaborated with Suki Chan on two major exhibitions and several of her short films.

Co-Producer

Gannesh Rajah

Gannesh Rajah is a BAFTA-longlisted and multiple BIFA-award-winning producer, whose work spans a variety of formats and genres. His first feature documentary as lead producer, the BFI Doc Society supported IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE, had its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, was released theatrically in the UK, acquired by BBC Storyville, and screened at The Houses of Parliament. The film was longlisted for the BAFTA for ‘Outstanding Debut’ and won two BIFAs - including ‘Best Feature Documentary’ - with Gannesh also receiving a nomination for ‘Breakthrough Producer.’

Gannesh was awarded the prestigious DOC SOCIETY FELLOWSHIP, is a BFI INSIGHT PRODUCER and SHEFFIELD DOC FEST FUTURE PRODUCER alumnus, is part of BAFTA CONNECT, was named a FILM LONDON LODESTAR, and is part of FILM LONDON’S BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING cohort (where he was mentored by 007 Producer, Barbara Broccoli).

Editor

Michael Ellis

Michael Ellis is a legendary British film editor whose career spans more than four decades of world-class storytelling across an exceptionally wide range of genres. Born on 30 September 1943 in Eton, Buckinghamshire, England, his career is a masterclass in range, having shaped some of cinema's most iconic and tonally diverse narratives.

He brought soaring, genre-defining energy to Richard Donner's Superman (1978), while demonstrating equal command of gritty, soulful British storytelling in Brassed Off (1996). His adventure credits include The Jewel of the Nile (1985), and he brought particular sensitivity and devastating precision to the Holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008). His enduring craft and curiosity continued to find new expression in Werner Herzog's reflective documentary Meeting Gorbachev (2018), a testament to his lifelong commitment to stories that matter.

With a body of work that moves effortlessly between blockbuster spectacle, intimate drama, and documentary, Michael Ellis is defined by his intuitive pacing, deep emotional intelligence, and a narrative instinct that has left an indelible mark on the British cutting room and beyond.

Composer and Sound Designer

Dominik Scherrer

Dominik first won the Ivor Novello Award and received a Royal Television Society nomination for his score on Ripper Street. He earned two additional Ivor Novello nominations for Amazon’s The Collection and Agatha Christie’s Marple. Dominik reunited with the Williams brothers to score Amazon’s thriller series The Widow, starring Kate Beckinsale. He also scored the landmark dramas An Inspector Calls and Monroe. Dominik’s credits include The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz for which Dominik won the Best Music Award at Spain’s Estapona Film Festival; Alice Through The Looking Glass starring Kate Beckinsale; Alina Marazzi’s Tutto Parla Di Te (All About You); and Scenes of a Sexual Nature. He scored Appetite starring Ute Lemper, and wrote the film’s title song which reached No. 2 on the UK classical charts. Dominik also created, directed and composed the kinetic opera Hell for Leather, which premiered at Sundance and won 10 awards on the festival circuit. In addition to scoring film and TV, he produces sound design and composes for fine art installations - most notably for artist Suki Chan - and creates performance music for theatre. Dominik is a British-Swiss composer and works from his studio in London.

Advocacy

If you or someone you love has been affected by the themes in this film, please know that you are not alone. There are dedicated professionals and communities ready to listen and offer support.

Alzheimer’s Society

Whether you need a listening ear, legal advice, or support with a diagnosis, the Dementia Support Line is available 7 days a week.

Call: 0333 150 3456
Website: alzheimers.org.uk

Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)

ADI is the global federation for Alzheimer’s and dementia associations. Use their directory to find the national support organization in your specific country.

Website: alzint.org

24/7 Crisis Support (Mental Health): If you are in immediate emotional distress, Befrienders Worldwide provides a directory of international crisis centers: befrienders.org

A Note for Carers: Watching these stories can be emotionally taxing. Please remember to take a moment for yourself. Caring for the carer is a vital part of the journey.