DEMENTIA IS EVERYONES PROBLEM!

The White Scarf is a short psychological drama that explores memory, identity, and the enduring bond of love in the face of dementia. Told from the fragmented perspective of Ian St. James, a once-famous public figure now slipping into cognitive decline, the story immerses the viewer in the disorientation, fear, and tenderness that accompany the erosion of self.

Set within the quiet isolation of a country home, the film centers on Lucas Santiago, Ian’s husband and caretaker, as he struggles to hold together their shared reality while confronting the man he loves becoming a stranger. Through a blend of subjective storytelling, haunting imagery, and emotional intimacy, the film invites audiences into a raw and poetic meditation on what remains when memory disappears.

This project is deeply personal — drawing from my work as a hospice chaplain and my experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It reflects the often-invisible challenges faced by same-sex couples navigating aging, illness, and caregiving, particularly when legal protections and public recognition may be lacking. The White Scarf does not seek to explain dementia; it seeks to feel it — to offer viewers a way to understand what it’s like to be lost in time, while still tethered by love.

As my directorial debut, this film is both an artistic expression and an act of advocacy — a tribute to devotion in its purest form, and a call to recognize the dignity of queer elderhood in a world that so often forgets it.