The “Forever Young?” festival, at the Anteo cinema in Milan from 11 to 17 November, it is a review of films, but also much more: the opportunity to reflect on the new discoveries of neuroscience in terms of longevity and a bridge between the 2024 edition of Milan Longevity Summit and the one scheduled for March 2025, creating an ongoing dialogue on issues of global relevance.
Viviana Kasam, creator of the Festival, selected seven cinema masterpieces among the many that explore this theme, identifying complex topics, such as overpopulation, fragility and intergenerational relationships, proposing a different and inclusive image of aging, seen as a opportunity to renew yourself and open up to new experiences.
Thanks to the participation of economists, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists and neuroscientists, the “Forever Young?” festival will delve into the themes proposed by films and the most current scientific research. THEhe objective is to stimulate reflection on a paradigm shift towards a generation, what we today define with a euphemistic term, “Longennials”. This generation, made up of baby boomers, represents a coveted target for marketing, thanks to its numerical strength and the economic capabilities of those who lived through the boom years, characterized by an ethic of saving. A rapidly expanding market has developed around them, the Silver Economy, but not all that glitters is silver.
The scheduled titles
In the seven appointments, five in the evening (from Monday 11 to Friday 15 November, at 7.30 pm) and two in the morning (Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November, at 11.00 am) we will talk about the different faces of aging.
Off we go Monday 11 November with The Picture of Dorian Gray, which addresses the obsession with eternal youth, a theme that eighty years after the success of Lewin’s film is still very relevant, in an era in which some elites rely on very expensive treatments, in the hope of staying young. Discussing it in the room were Alberto Beretta, immunologist, President and Scientific Director of the Solongevity Foundation and Camilla Baresani, writer and journalist.
Tuesday 12 November will be projected Plan 75on the disproportion between the elderly and young populations, a current problem not only in Japan, where the film is set, but also in Italy. The paradoxical proposal of the film, collective euthanasia, is a stimulus to reflect on old age from the point of view of young people, who feel they no longer have space in a world in which media and economic interests seem to favor the elderly. THEEconomist Vincenzo Galasso, Director of the Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University, will speak to delve deeper into the prospects of a society in which generational balances are changing rapidly.
Wednesday 13 November continue with Harold and Maudewhich starts from a paradox to explore the theme of ageless love. The film will be introduced by Odile Robotti, founder and President of Italia Altruista and creator of the Kaumatua project and Paola Rossetti, member of the Control Room of the “ABCDigital” project, who will discuss the transformative power of intergenerational relationships and how the interaction between elders and youth can enrich both.
Thursday 14 November it’s time to Nomadland, which tells of the possibility of personal rebirth, with the extraordinary Francis McDormand in the role of a sixty-year-old who discovers a new life “on the road”. A reflection on the effects of socialization and the ability to regenerate on health. Leading the discussion will be Elia Biganzoli and Valentina Bollati of the State University of Milan, coordinators of the INES project.
Friday 15 November is projected The house of smileswhich explores the taboo of sex in old age through the story of two elderly people in a retirement home who rediscover desire and the scandal this causes. A work on how sexuality can remain alive even in old age. TO the sexologist and psychologist Rosamaria Spina and Leo Nahon, psychiatrist, former Director of Psychiatry, Niguarda Ca’ Granda Hospital, will talk about it.
Saturday 16 Novemberre we will talk about memory loss and how the so-called “cognitive reserve”, i.e. the knowledge we have accumulated, can serve to mitigate it, with Remember, a thriller that sees two giants of the screen, Christopher Plummer and Bruno Ganz, chase the ghosts of the past while defying the decline in short-term memory, which often heralds neurodegenerative problems. Alessandro Padovani, neurologist, President of the Italian Society of Neurology and Daniela Perani, neurologist, neuroradiologist, Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience, San Raffaele University will lead a discussion on the mechanisms of memory and on recent discoveries in the neuroscientific field.
Sunday 17 Novemberto end with a smile, the review ends with Marigold Hotel, timeless masterpiece, which reminds us how socialization is the most powerful antidote to old age, and shows how human bonds can give new life to life. The screening will be followed by a speech by Monica Di Luca and Diego Scheggia, neuroscientists and professors of Pharmacology at the University of Milan, who will discuss relational well-being in old age.
