Short Film Program # 23 – Automotive History

Old People Driving - In the tender and surprising documentary, “Old People Driving,” director Shaleece Haas gets into the passenger seat and asks, 'Can a person be simply too old to drive?' We get to know Milton (age 96) and Herbert (age 99) as they confront a grim milestone: the end of their driving years. 
Milton (Haas' grandfather) has been driving since age nine. And he's not going to give up his keys until he's good and ready. He drives every day — in his big white van or one of several old Model T Fords he owns. And his family questions what they'll do if he starts to be unsafe behind the wheel.
Herbert has a very different relationship to driving. As he approaches his 100th birthday, he decides to give up the car in favor of a three-wheel tricycle. But he's never ridden a bicycle in his life.
Through the stories of Milton and Herbert, and a look back at the deadly 2003 accident involving an elderly driver who mistook the gas for the brake, 'Old People Driving' explores the tension between public safety and personal autonomy. We learn that elderly drivers aren't what you'd expect. And we discover the heartbreaking truth about the generation that came of age during America's love affair with the automobile: that they, too, will eventually sputter to a stop. Directed by: Shaleece Haas

The Car is Born - A documentary about Carl & Bertha Benz - The automobile was invented 125 years ago by Carl Benz. He himself had doubts about the durability of his machine so never drove far from home. So, his wife Bertha took matters into her own hands. Early one morning in 1888, against all common sense and fully without her husband's permission, Bertha gathered up her two sons and made off with the automobile. Despite breakdowns and other misadventures, she secured renown for her husband's automobile as well as a place in the history books for herself: The first-ever long-distance road trip was made by a woman! Directed by: Ulli Kampelmann

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