AMNESIA

WHEN THE BRAIN SUDDENLY STOPS WORKING

Neurologist Magnus Heier was paddling in Finland when his memory stopped working without any warning. He had transient global amnesia, or TGA for short. This is when the brain stops recording experiences for up to 24 hours: Magnus Heier had forgotten everything he did seconds later. For the neurologist and first-person narrator of the film, the incident becomes the starting point for an expedition into the world of our memories. Why did his memory simply fail? How do remembering and forgetting actually work under normal circumstances? And why are the lost hours still haunting him today?

TEAM

Written by: Susanne Rostosky, Magnus Heier // Directed by: Susanne Rostosky // Camera: Michael Kern, Jörg Adams // Editing: Marc Schubert // Graphics: Susanne Rostosky, Anastasia Wagner // Sound: Mustafa Özakbiyik, Victor Rubow, Olaf Oebels // Sound mixing: Florian Ebrecht // Color correction: Dany Schelby // Assistant editors: Mathis Hohmann, Anastasia Wagner // Speaker: Magnus Heier // Production assistant: Alican Tamkan // Producer: Meike Hemschemeier // Production management: Katja Sträter, Frank Bürkle (SWR) // Executive producers: Sarah Zierul, Thomas Weidenbach // Commissioning editors: Christine Seidemann, Niels Waibel, Anne Holländer (director)

Produced by Längengrad Filmproduktion on behalf of SWR in cooperation with Arte