Growing up, my grandmother practically raised me. She was a teacher, who taught me how to read and write long before I started school. More importantly, she was a storyteller,  and she instilled in me a love of story.

 

When my grandmother first started developing Alzheimer’s, it felt like I was living with a ghost of the person I knew. It was an odd limbo, a longing for connection with a lost version of someone I loved.

 

I want LOLA to capture this feeling: our time on earth is way too short — all we can do is enjoy every moment we have left.

 

The emotional core of the story is believing the loved ones we’ve lost are still out there — and learning how to let go.

 

I want this film to bring comfort to people who are grieving the slow loss of their loved ones to dementia. I want them to know that their loved ones live on in us, and the stories we tell about them.