262 | Cara Yeates (Gone Before Your Eyes)

My Summer Lair Chapter #262: What Can We learn From Die Hard Today?

Do you have any relatives trapped in the grip of Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s is a disheartening type of dementia…names, memories vanish like blowing out the flame on a candle. Alzheimer’s is a thief that robs intimacy from relationships…someone special slowly becomes a stranger.

This was the dreadful situation filmmaker Cara Yeates found herself in as her mother, a painter, was succumbing to the disease. Cara’s mother wasn’t just losing her ability to connect with her daughter…her art was fading. She no longer knew how to create or even why she should create.

As a creative individual I can’t even imagine those awful circumstances.

Cara’s always been a storyteller. Her latest creation is a short film Gone Before Your Eyes…this isn’t just a film. It’s a reflection of life, love, and loss, a gem of storytelling that leaves an indelible mark.

Gone Before Your Eyes is a response to her mother’s Alzheimer’s status. If her mom couldn’t create anymore, Cara still could and would.

There’s always been an aspect of defiance to creating and making art.

In this conversation with Cara we’ll explore the profound Alzheimer’s has had and is having on her family and her mother’s art…what prompted this cinematic response Gone Before Your Eyes which is playing at the Woodstock Film Festival among other film festivals and of course…we talk about Die Hard.

Yes the moving and magical action masterpiece from 1988 starring Bruce Willis.

This is a conversation that transcends the boundaries of the screen and delves into the sticky essence of what it means to be human. And it all starts with fame and discovering a camera.

Cara Yeates @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 12:30 pm (EST)

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