Filmmaker Statement

Forget Me Not is a deeply personal story rooted in memory, love, and the quiet grief of watching someone you love disappear while still physically present. Inspired by real experiences and stories from within my community, the film captures the emotional reality of dementia—not only for those living with it, but even more so for the families forced to navigate its slow and painful erosion of identity. As the creator, writer, and producer, my aim was to explore the emotional tension between presence and absence. Joe lives in a past shaped by unresolved grief, while Maria—his devoted wife of twenty years—is stranded in a present that he no longer fully occupies. This emotional dissonance is reflected visually throughout the film, echoing Joe’s confusion and Maria’s deep loneliness. This was my first independently produced project, and with limited resources, I had to wear many hats—creator, writer, producer, casting director, wardrobe, executive producer, and location scout. I made the