EVERYBODY’S OMA

in cinemas from August 11 with national Q&A tour from July 30

Selected for the Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and Cinefest Oz, EVERYBODY’S OMA follows the incredible story of Oma, the grandmother with dementia, and the endearing home videos that became a global sensation.

Filmmaker Jason van Genderen was obsessed with making home videos about his family, and their Dutch matriarch, Oma. As the pandemic hit, and Oma’s shrinking world became even smaller, Jason and his wife Megan embraced caring for Oma’s dementia in increasingly whimsical ways, accidentally turning her into an online celebrity.

Their home videos attracted over 100 million views globally, and continue to climb.

Now a heart-warming and life-affirming feature documentary, EVERYBODY’S OMA follows Jason, Megan and their children as they navigate Oma’s failing health under the spotlight of an enthusiastic audience of well-meaning strangers.

Filmmaker Jason van Genderen Jason is a rule breaker, creative agitator and iPhone documentarian. In 2008 he premiered his first smartphone short film My Town is Broken at Sydney Film Festival, winning his category and seeding a life-long obsession with capturing story in unexpected ways.

“I’ve always been obsessed about capturing my family on video. My short films have all been biographical, I lean on my camera to reflect and make sense of life’s hiccups. It's why I film with iPhones so extensively, because I can capture more fleeting situations, and share that raw intimacy with an audience. In EVERYBODY’S OMA, the audience will experience an intimate observation of our family - all the flaws and joys - as we navigate an extraordinary journey,” Jason says.

EVERYBODY’S OMA was primarily captured on iPhones, and features footage spanning 12 years of Van Genderen home life. The whole family was involved, from Evie (2), Arty (6) right through to Levi (15), Brie (19) and Jason and Megan. Oma (Hendrika van Genderen) lost her battle with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia on February 17, 2022, with the family leaving a front row seat free in memory of Oma at each preview screening. Jason and Megan will place a bunch of Oma’s favourite blooms - sunflowers - on this seat to acknowledge her unforgettably sunny disposition.

“This film will go down in our family as one of our most beautiful memories, and something we can reflect and be proud. I'm intrinsically aware of the life lessons of respect, compassion and empathy our elders provide our younger generations and feel eternally indebted to Oma for cementing the values of empathy and love she in our children's lives. This film represents every family that has ever found themselves in a high care circumstance and I hope it validates every feeling and every journey.” says Megan.

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