TRANSLATING EDWIN HONIG: A Poet’s Alzheimer’s

Thematic Family Affairs Curated by Ross McElwee

A transfixing tribute to filmmaker Alan Berliner’s cousin Edwin Honig. Once a master of intricate phrasing, the acclaimed poet now struggles with a fading memory. Berliner tenderly captures Honig in the final stages of Alzheimer’s. His diminished capacity for phrases, faces, and even his own personal history is evident. He fails to recall his nephew’s name and words often escape him, but Honig now relies on a new vocabulary of sayings, noises, and gestures. Divided into sections, Berliner weaves these various articulations into a rhythm of sounds and expressions, creating poetry from the words that remain.  ST

Director

Alan Berliner

Producer

Alan Berliner

Editor

Alan Berliner

Cinematographer

Ian Vollmer

Release Year

2010

Festival Year

2012

Country

United States

Run Time

20 minutes