Caring for parents until exhaustion?

Family caregivers are often stretched to the limit. Many feel an obligation to provide care – especially as for centuries it was common for daughters and daughters-in-law to care for their ageing relatives at home. Today, however, this is almost impossible to manage alongside a job and family. Nevertheless, many elderly parents still expect their children to look after them. They definitely don’t want to go into a home.

Georg Wieghaus accompanied Christel (62) and Ulrike (63) for months. They are two of the more than five million people in Germany who care for their relatives. A task that leaves a clear mark on both of them. The sensitive documentary explores the questions:

What do we owe our parents? How far do our obligations go? And when should we go against their wishes?

TEAM

Written and directed by: Georg Wieghaus // Produced by: Tanja Winkler, Renate Werner (WDR) // Camera: Sven Kiesche, Dieter Stürmer // Sound: Maximilian Bartusch, Aljoscha Haupt, Ole Schmidt // Editing: Huynh Trang Lam // Music: Jens Hafemann // Sound mixing: Florian Ebrecht // Narrator: Yvon Jansen // Production assistant: Annemarie Zertisch // Production management: Katja Sträter, Christian Wulf (WDR) // Executive producers: Thomas Weidenbach, Sarah Zierul // Commissioning editor: Angelika Wagner (WDR) // Produced by Längengrad Filmproduktion on behalf of WDR