MIFF: CARELESS

In a country where ageing has become a business, this funny, moving documentary follows elderly peoples fight to grow old their way.

When director Sue Thomsons 89-year-old mum, Margaret, begins to need additional help with day-to-day life, they face a decision that most families will encounter: whether to consider a residential aged-care facility; and, if so, how to find a suitable one amid a sector with a reputation for neglect and mistreatment. Margarets story becomes a springboard for an investigation of the political history of aged care in Australia, marred by a 40-year bipartisan privatisation agenda. As we hear from advocates, journalists and senior citizens who have experienced the system, a group of schoolkids discuss the situation weve reached with aged care and where we need to go from here and of what they, and we, can expect in the future.

Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, this documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomson (The Coming Back Out Ball Movie, MIFF 2018 Closing Night Gala; Under Cover, MIFF 2022) and produced by Adam Farrington-Williams (Geeta, MIFF 2021) is a warm, insightful and energetic exploration of a problem that touches us all. Through observational footage, archival materials, home movies and interviews, Careless issues a timely and powerful response to a hidden crisis.