Involuntary Short Film | Chris & Dana

INVOLUNTARY

Carlton, a man in his 70s suffering from Dementia, is moved from a nursing home in the middle of the night.

"I still have the images of this wonderful film seared in my brain."
-Sam Brooks, Director of Public Policy at the National Consumer Voice for Long-Term Quality Care, Washington DC.

ABOUT THE FILM

In a study in 2021, complaints regarding nursing facility-initiated discharges had been one of the most common type of complaint received by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for nine years straight. Patient dumping is often an undocumented crime, evicting a patient leaves no paper trail, so the full scope of the problem remains unknown. In 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden enacted sweeping changes regarding nursing home care and staffing, and it has been met with resistance.

Involuntary is the first short film in a collection of narrative shorts which explores themes of moral responsibility through the lens of our treatment of older adults. All of the film's storylines center around elder abuse, elder care, and the egregious, ongoing practice of patient dumping (the "dumping" of vulnerable older adults to homeless shelters, bus stops and sometimes the street from hospitals and nursing homes).

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

With our fictional film, Involuntary, we wanted to create a world where our viewers are like witnesses to a crime. Through the fractured mind of our patient-protagonist, Carlton, we feel the confusion and terror this man is feeling. Carlton is a forgotten man who has forgotten who he is. Stories such as his do happen right here in America. Our collective empathy for older adults often becomes frayed. Perhaps our fear of death, as a society, clouds our most basic humanity towards those who are the closest to it.