Overview
Narrative films about dementia are becoming increasingly common in commercial cinema, however those currently being produced by Hollywood are riddled with tragedy narrative and lack the input of people actually living with dementia in the telling of their own stories. This pilot is motivated by the mission to improve the mainstream perspective of dementia by taking a “nothing about us without us” approach to changing it.
Project Details
The project aims to produce a short film as proof-of-concept for immediate expansion into a full-length film. Entitled “Land of the Young”, this film will engage people with dementia in the process of filmmaking and influence common Hollywood narrative about neurodegenerative disease, bringing it out of the realm of fear and doom and into that of hope, agency and compassion. Through the one-year process of making the short-film version of “Land of the Young”, from pre-production to dissemination of the finished product, the Filmmaker will rely upon Dementia Inclusion Advisors from the lived experience community to provide accuracy. This will include consultation on the screenplay, casting of actors, and feedback during editing. It is also imperative that these Dementia Inclusion Advisors be part of the conversation when the film is released to the public, taking center stage to discuss the realities of living with dementia and how it should be represented on-screen. Specific outcomes for this project are:
- Identify a workflow in narrative filmmaking that directly involves people with lived experience and their care partners in a meaningful way; giving them agency in cinematic work about dementia.
- Deliver a film at the Filmmaker’s aesthetic standard for exhibition at international film festivals, with the mission to engage and inform global audiences about living meaningfully with dementia.
- Establish experience in this new way of filmmaking that gives opportunity to disseminate knowledge to others in the entertainment and scientific communities.
- Yield materials that prove the Filmmaker’s ability to make a full-length film with the same workflow. The project's impact potential demonstrates that advocacy-based methods in filmmaking could not only increase visibility for empowered cinematic stories about dementia and brain health, but also provide a followable example for any creatives in commercial film and television who are passionate about promoting equity through community collaboration in their work.
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