A SHORT film offering an insight into life with dementia was screened for the first time at Athelhampton House near Puddletown.

The charity premiere of More Afraid of You at Athelhampton’s cinema raised more than £400 for the Alzheimer’s Society.

The film, produced by Puddletown resident Jeremy Barnes, stars Emma Thompson’s mother Phyllida Law and Anna Chancellor.

Directed by Barry Kimber, it follows the story of a daughter struggling to cope with her mother’s rapidly increasing dementia.

Mr Barnes, 48, said the film – which has been selected for the Manhattan Film Festival this month – was something of a personal project for him and he was delighted to give something back to the Alzheimer’s Society.

He said: “My mother has Alzheimer’s and she was diagnosed at about the same time as we were making the film so for me it was quite a personal journey.

“That is why I went to Lisa Holmes from the Dorchester branch of the Alzheimer’s Society and said we wanted to do this screening.”

Mr Barnes added: “We are so grateful to Andrea and Patrick Cooke of Athelhampton for loaning us their 70 seat cinema for this charity screening. “It really is the most fantastic venue and we wanted to thank everyone for their support of the film and generosity in donating to this worthy cause.

“The Society do really good work in research into the causes of Alzheimer’s but also in helping people to deal with everyday problems.

“It was a very good evening which raised £400 and we’ve still got money coming in so hopefully it will be more than that.”

Andrea Cooke, from Athelhampton House, said: “We were keen to help out with the screening and we are thrilled that they've raised so much money for the Alzheimer's society as the charity does such great work supporting not only the people suffering from this condition, but also the families affected by it too.”

For more information about other screenings at Athelhampton House during its autumn film season visit www.athelhampton.co.uk/cinema.

For more information about the Alzheimer’s Society visit www.alzheimers.org.uk.