The Care Factory

This is a short documentary about a typical day in an elderly care facility, where bureaucracy and efficiency are increasingly what matter. The title, The Care Factory, is no exaggeration: the nurses carry cash cards and are constantly watching the clock. They are also not allowed to provide any care other than that covered by the "package" of the "client" in question. A manager ensures that all of the requirements are complied with and talks in indecipherable abbreviations derived from privatized health care jargon. This commercial approach seems difficult to reconcile with the social nature of the work and runs contrary to the motivation of the nurses, who want to help people in the most human way possible. The documentary does not pronounce judgment on the situation, but simply records the increasingly quiet lives of the elderly residents and the hectic meetings behind the scenes of this "care factory." We hear the beeping of the cash cards and watch as carrots are spooned out onto plates in the institutional kitchen. The film also reveals the chasm between new technology and old people, as the nurses play around with the computer system while the old people listen to the songs of yesteryear. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)