Internationally acclaimed documentary Human Forever will tour Australia in June, bringing a powerful new perspective to the nation’s growing dementia challenge and urging families, carers and policymakers to rethink how people living with dementia are supported.
Created by Dutch healthcare innovator Teun Toebes and filmmaker Jonathan de Jong, the award-winning documentary explores dementia care models across four continents and 11 countries, asking what care could look like if dignity, autonomy and quality of life were prioritised alongside safety and clinical management.
The Australian tour will include screenings and Q&A sessions in Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Bangalow and Brisbane, beginning at the International Dementia Conference from June 3 to 5 in Sydney.
The film arrives as dementia continues to place increasing pressure on Australia’s health and aged care systems. According to Dementia Australia, an estimated 446,500 Australians are living with dementia in 2026, with projections expected to exceed one million people by 2065.
Described by The Guardian as “groundbreaking”, Human Forever won the Golden Calf award in 2024 and has been screened in more than 30 countries, including at leading universities such as Yale University, University of Oxford and Cornell University.
At the centre of the documentary is Toebes’ extraordinary decision to live for three-and-a-half years inside a locked nursing home ward alongside people living with dementia, an experience that shaped his philosophy around person-centred care.
“We need to stop asking only how dementia can be managed and start asking how people with dementia can have a life worth living,” Mr Toebes said.
Mr De Jong said the film was created to shift public perceptions of dementia away from fear and decline.
“When I worked in a nursing home during college, I saw a reality that was warmer, richer and far more hopeful than the story often told about dementia.”
The documentary challenges what the filmmakers describe as a “blame culture” in aged care, where falls, behavioural changes, and accidents are often treated solely as failures to be eliminated.
The film highlights international examples of care models built around relationships, personal identity and emotional wellbeing, including approaches observed in Norway, where residents’ routines and preferences shaped daily care.
While Australia was not featured in the documentary, Mr de Jong said many of the themes explored would strongly resonate locally because of similarities between Australian and European aged care systems.
