Ayr filmmaker wins award for family documentary

Nov 28 2008 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

A HEART-RENDING story of a family’s life with Alzheimer’s has won a top award.

Filmmaker Sue Bourne turned the cameras on her own life to make a documentary on her mum’s fight with the disease.

And the critically acclaimed film has now won a mental health media award.

The moving documentary, which aired on BBC1 in May, told the story of Sue’s widowed mother Ethel.

At the time, Sue admitted: “I thought long and hard about whether to make this film and expose myself, my mother and my daughter.

“But I realised there was something special about mum and her Alzheimer’s, because she’s taught us to laugh in the face of adversity.

“Everything I’d seen about Alzheimer’s was devastatingly miserable, so I wanted this film to show you can still laugh together and have fun.”

The film was made over three years with Sue making 800-mile round trips from her home in England to visit Ethel.

Mum and Me took the award for the Making A Difference category at Tuesday night’s ceremony in London.

This is the 15th year of the awards which recognise the best reporting and portrayal of mental health issues.

Maggie Gibbons, chief executive of Mental Health Media, said: “It’s great to see such quality broadcasting coming out of Scotland.

“Despite the inevitable concentration of award entries from England, Scotland has shown it can hold its own when it comes to challenging stereotypes and stigma around mental health issues.

“We hope this will encourage more entries from Scotland for next year’s awards.”