Project Detail

Conscious

A natural beehive

Synopsis

In an era of increasing brain fog and cognitive decline a profound exploration of humanity’s greatest conundrum - the nature of consciousness and self. A powerful, dream-like journey delving into the hearts and minds of four individuals whose lives intersect at the threshold of memory and reality.
A quartet of voices: Maureen Winfield represents the struggle of the caregiver - her husband regressed to the period when they were engaged and no longer recognised her or the home they lived in for 40 years; Wendy Mitchell, diagnosed with young-onset dementia, embodies resilience, she uses ingenious coping mechanisms to navigate her changing perceptions; Pegeen O’Sullivan, daughter of novelist Liam O’Flaherty, offers a surprising perspective - although she has lost her memories, she has also been liberated her from fears; neuroscientistAnil Seth provides a scientific counterpoint, suggesting that our "normal" reality is itself a form of controlled hallucination.
By weaving together deeply personal lived experiences with performance and scientific theory, CONSCIOUS illustrates how dementia shifts our internal worlds, challenging our preconceptions of ageing, showing us that whilst there are devastating losses on on the dementia journey, there can also be triumphant gains.
Official Selection CPH:DOX 2026

Details

Year
2026
Type of project
Features
Running time
80 min
Format
4K Digital Raw/ProRes 4444
Director
Suki Chan 1st Feature
Producer
Aimara Reques, Teresa Grimes, Suki Chan
Co-Producer
Gannesh Rajah
Executive Producer
Mark Thomas, Sandra Whipham, Dominic Davis
Editor
Suki Chan, Michael Ellis
Screenwriter
Suki Chan
Director of Photography
David Lee, Catherine Derry
Sound
Dominik Scherrer
Composer
Dominik Scherrer
Principal cast
Sam Dale, Maria Macdonell, Karen Fanning, Érin Geraghty
Other Lead Creative(s)
Script Editor and Consultant: JILLIAN MANNION, Visual Effects: OMBRIUM

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Supported by Screen Scotland, BFI Doc Society Fund, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Sandbox Films

Conscious Productions

9 Quick St
London
N1 8HL

Aconite Productions Ltd.

Burgh Business Centre (Office 5)
75 King Street
Rutherglen
Glasgow
G73 1JS
Scotland

Page updates

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