Introduction

This chapter describes the experience and representation of dementia, this time in film. It explores how personal and national memories are entwined and how individuals affected by dementia and those who care for them navigate their relations to each other and to the past – to familial, national and postcolonial history. The discourse of successful ageing prevails not only in the popular cultural space but more broadly in many neoliberal societies, demanding that populations be fit, able and productive. The interconnectedness that she emphasises is evident in: in the links it implicitly makes between a range of national and cultural contexts and in its close attention to the narratives that bind people– as practitioners, performers, audiences and readers. People must continue to be mindful – and hopeful – of cultural narratives and practices and their potential to bring about change, change that may be subtle and slow.