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Walk With Me
Director and Producer Heidi Levitt, Producer Vanessa Perez, Executive Producers David Guy Elisco and Alex Gibney
Walk With Me is a film about living with dementia from the intimate points of view of both the filmmaker and her husband who was diagnosed at age 57 with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease. Their marriage is reframed through living with the disease when there is no cure or treatment.
This project was selected to participate in the JSP-Good Docs Education-Impact Program. To learn more about screening opportunities, click here.
Year of Completion
2024
Theatrical Release Date
3+ cities including Los Angeles (2025)
Heidi Levitt
Director, Producer
Heidi Levitt is an acclaimed casting director whose career spans over 100 feature films, from the Academy Award-winning The Artist to Michael Bay’s The Rock. Widely respected for her discerning eye and deep commitment to independent cinema, she has collaborated with a diverse slate of filmmakers, including Oliver Stone, Wayne Wang, Sally Potter, Wim Wenders, Rodrigo García, Haifaa Al-Mansour, and Victor Nuñez. Heidi completed her directorial debut, the documentary Walk With Me. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October 2024 and received a Special Jury Prize. The film screened at festivals across the US and abroad and is in theatrical release with Outsider Pictures. It will be broadcast on PBS with details announced shortly. Heidi is the Miller Artist-in-Residence at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center. She is a graduate of Barnard College, the American Film Institute, and a member of AMPAS.
Vanessa Perez
Producer
Vanessa Perez began her career at International Creative Management (ICM) in the Motion Picture Talent department. In 2008, she began her producing career at CANANA Films (helmed by Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Pablo Cruz’). At CANANA she acquired a desire to create globally resonant multicultural content. At CANANA Films, she executive produced Miss Bala (Cannes, Un Certain Regard) and Paraiso (TIFF 2014). Her most recent credits include Cesar Chavez, directed by Diego Luna, and Walk With Me (Hamptons Film Festival, AFI Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival), directed by Heidi Levitt and Executive Produced by Alex Gibney. She is currently in production of the documentary All Other Parts, directed by Cristina Ibarra. The project has been supported by Sundance Institute and the Ford Foundation and most recently selected to participate in the co-production market at Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara (FICG, 2026). Her projects in development have been backed by TIFF, Sundance, and Film Independent.
David Guy Elisco
Executive Producer
David Guy Elisco manages the development and production of a portfolio of films for HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, focusing on feature-length documentaries. In his work, he is drawn to dramatic stories that touch the heart, inspire wonder, and provide insight into life on Earth. Most recently, Elisco served as executive producer on the Oscar-nominated All That Breathes, the most awarded documentary of 2022, picking up the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the L’Oeil d’Or Award for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival among its honors.
Alex Gibney
Executive Producer
Alex Gibney was called “the most important documentarian of our time” by Esquire Magazine and has a signature cinematic style. His work has received an Academy Award, multiple Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, several Peabody Awards, the DuPont-Columbia Award, The Independent Spirit Award, and the Writers Guild Award. Alex Gibney was a Lifetime Achievement honoree at the 45th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards in September 2024. His latest film, Musk, will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2026.
Project logline and bios courtesy of the grantees.