A TV producer is winning plaudits internationally for his documentary about an experimental study in the United States on elderly people with dementia that seeks to restore their identities and improve the quality of their final stages of life.

With his English-language film titled "Do You Know What My Name Is?" co-director Shigeru Ota, 39, presents the story of dementia patients whose conditions have improved remarkably thanks to a treatment developed by prominent neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima involving simple reading, writing and calculation exercises.

"I believe dementia can be overcome and wanted to convey to people those signs (of the disease becoming a curable one through the film)," Ota said in a recent interview.