DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Dancing with Mom is a deeply intimate portrait told through the raw prism of POV documentary storytelling. This ever-changing landscape of a tale has been 30 years in the making and transformed over time. What was first intended to be a story about my mother’s unique relationship with her friend Willie perpetually evolved into a life-changing experience that is both haunting and hilarious. 

My mother was a fascinating individual who I had a wonderfully unconventional relationship with. She was an activist, a caregiver, and a firecracker so when she got diagnosed with dementia I knew I had to document it. I traded my bustling career as a filmmaker in my early thirties to become a full-time caregiver to my mother who was ascending into this terrifying illness. During this process, it became instantly clear to me that the hardest thing one can do in their life is saying goodbye to a loved one while they're still alive. 

This film explores diverse facets of life but in the end became a story about me, in all of its vulnerable glory. This film showcases how dementia robbed my mother of her sharp brain while simultaneously illuminating her spirit. We embark on a bucket list of adventures of life, love and dancing. While grief can be gut-wrenching, it can also be rife with humour, Dancing with Mom exposes my experience of laughing through the pain. I hope this story can help others through the remarkably difficult experience of love and loss.

In a nutshell the request  …7 bowls of popcorn, a man who will screw me and someone to drive me around. Love mom xo

...and life after that was never the same.