Informative and emotional, Suki Chan’s Conscious documentary feature provides an inside look into fading memory and dementia. Told through two main subjects – Dr. Wendy Mitchell who speaks on her experience with young-onset dementia, and Anil Seth, a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience who provides the science behind the ‘why.’ As well as the stories of dementia patients, including Michael Winfield (narrated through his wife, Maureen Winfield), Pegeen O’Sullivan, and Ann Seth.
Conscious has been an eight-year project which is described as ‘a beautiful and haunting exploration of what happens when consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate.’ And is a co-production between Aconite Productions and Conscious Productions.
Emotional & Informative Storytelling
Quick extreme-close-up shots are interspersed with slowed down mid-shots of the subjects as we hear their stories. The documentary’s calming tone and slow-pace run then mirrors what it is like to live with the illness. There’s a relaxing stillness that fills the screen with the inevitability that this is sadly the patients’ end.
When you live with someone and you see them every day, there are changes, but the changes are so gradual that you never notice them.
Anil Seth
However, at times the interesting cutting style can be confusing. And we get a little lost as it cuts between subjects and their narrations. But you gradually have to get used to this viewing style. The patients are not afraid of losing their battle with dementia. This documentary shines a light on how they are really heroes in their own stories. Old photographs capture a different version of them in time as they focus on their present selves.
Striking Visuals Mixed with a Textured Soundscape
But interestingly, the narrators themselves do not fear the illness they live with. Shots of nature, from the trees to the leaves swaying in the wind provide a calm cut away from the informative sections. Combining these powerful visuals is a strong, textured soundscape by award-winning composer, Dominik Scherrer who connects the impressive blend between the emotional side and informative side of the documentary. These shots are really memorable and stick with you long after viewing. Some of the imagery, including the beehive is cleverly reminiscent of the brain.
Even though this is a documentary, the filming style makes the story almost feel like it’s framed into a cinematic film. But what Suki Chan achieves so well with Conscious is how the mixture between emotional storytelling and informative storytelling blend together. This is shown not only through the different narrations, switching mainly between Wendy and Anil but through the visuals too. Images of moving particles, molecules etc. add a scientific feel. The documentary is grounded in science, but it’s framed in emotion too and that’s what makes Conscious so powerful.
With nothing there is no suffering, there is no pain, there is no regret. There is nothing. Is this disconcerting? Or is this reassuring? I oscillate between the two sometimes.
Anil Seth
Conscious had its world premiere launch on 14th March 2026 at CPH:DOX. You can find out more about Suki Chan’s documentary here.
There’s also a new screening at CPH:DOX on Tuesday 24th March 2026.
