THE FATHER (2020) + Q&A (FREE)

A free event as Part of the Being human Festival:

The Father (Philosophy @ Phoenix)

How do you know that you’re the same person you were yesterday? Philosophy @ Phoenix will help you to find answers to this question and more through the power of cinema and free popcorn.

Join film critic and philosopher Ben Tyrer and medical education advocate Shauna Murphy-Collins for an exploration of identity, memory and dementia through film with a screening of Florian Zeller’s Oscar-winning drama, The Father (2020). In this interactive viewing and discussion session, you will be guided through the key ideas of the film and invited to share your reflections on how it might let us experience dementia “from the inside”. By the end of the session, you will have a grasp of how dementia is understood in philosophy and in medicine and how cinema can help us to better understand who we are. Perfect for anybody with an inquiring mind and a love of film, this event requires no prior experience. The Father is rated 12 and over.

Directed by Florian ZellerAnthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia WilliamsFrance, UK | 2020

This event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 5-14 November 2026. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org

Runtime: 97 minutes

Rating: (12A)

Film