Plot

Banr revolves around Alzheimer's disease, portraying an elderly couple who have been together for 40 years, struggling between love and pain as the disease takes its toll.

Are you afraid of growing old? Are you afraid of losing your memories? Banr revolves around Alzheimer's disease, portraying an elderly couple who have been together for 40 years, struggling between love and pain as the disease takes its toll. When someone is afflicted with Alzheimer's, their memories slowly fade away. I wanted the audience to experience what the elderly go through. The film blends three different time lines into one, reflecting the fragmented and disordered nature of memory caused by the disease.I wanted viewers to hear what the elderly hear, so the film's soundtrack merges sounds like bouncing balls and footsteps from sensory training sessions in the nursing home. I also wanted them to feel the emotions of the elderly-the love and reluctance they feel toward their families.—Director/ writer

BANR follows the heartrending journey of an elderly couple who have shared 40 years of devotion. As they face the relentless march of time, tragedy strikes when the husband dies of a sudden heart attack, leaving his wife to confront the devastating onset of Alzheimer's. Trapped in a labyrinth of fragmented memories, she embarks on a desperate search for her family, while the fading echoes of love and familiarity blur into unrecognition. Presented through a non-linear narrative, BANR eschews conventional storytelling in favor of a sensory and immersive experience. Shot entirely in China with non-professional actors and enriched by documentary-style realism in a real nursing home setting, the film offers an intimate glimpse into the emotional complexities of aging, the resilience of the human spirit, and the subtle yet profound expressions of love within traditional Asian families.—Publicty