- Coming up on "One Detroit."

As part of our caregiving initiative, we'll talk with the director of the film "Wisdom Gone Wild," which chronicles the story of a woman caring for her Japanese-American mother who has dementia.

Plus, we'll hear from members of an expert panel on family caregiving and dementia health.

Also ahead, the Milford Independent Cinema gets a new lease on life as the community steps up to keep the theaters doors open.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit."

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(bright music) - "Wisdom Gone Wild" is a documentary about a daughter's journey caring for her Japanese American mother who was diagnosed with dementia.

As part of our caregiving initiative, Detroit PBS recently presented a free screening of the film at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.

"One Detroit's" Bill Kubota sat down with Rea Tajiri, the director of the documentary to talk about why it was important to tell the story of being a caregiver for her mother Rose.

(intriguing music) (gentle music) - [Rea VO] Throughout our lives, I always had questions about Rose's past that she would never answer.

(bells chiming) (Rose vocalizing) - "Wisdom Gone Wild" is a film about caregiving.

- So I (indistinct).

- It's about Mom, particularly my story caregiving my mother over 16 years.

My mother had dementia.

And I wanted to make a film that was as accurate a portrayal as I could muster that was both observational, but also a little bit poetic, and that centered my mother as a character.

- [Rea VO] A window opened up, I slowed down to embrace the dream logic.

Listening, she began to answer.

My experience of spending time with my mom was kind of, after a while, it become kind of like going on a stream of consciousness through her life.

And she would kind of go sometimes backwards in time.

And I got to know different people that she grew up with.

Or sometimes she would be talking to her sister who had passed away or another sister who had passed away.

- Helen, are you there?

Now, who could bring in the brown rice from your pack?

Helen.

Helen is going to do that.

- Sometimes I really learned things that she had never told me about, and I kind of tried to fact check them and say, "Well, did she go to school over here?

Did this happen?"

So that was really interesting.

Sometimes it didn't seem like she was making sense, but she was actually making sense in her own way.

- That's the way it was.

- They did, huh?

- We went crazy, we went crazy, we went crazy.

We wanted our children to know that.

Now you know how we felt.

- It seems that it's inevitable that all of us are going to have to find, you know, we have to tap into something in ourselves.

We will all become caregivers at some point in our lives or be taken care of.

And it may be your parents, it may be someone else, maybe a friend.

And so somehow, like, you know, this has to become part of our, has to be normalized as part of our culture.

I know it's very much part of Asian culture, but in the US it's something that we don't necessarily think of.

It's like, oh, this a burden.

But really, we've to find a way to kind of embrace this as a process, yeah.

- They're having fun without their mothers.

- [Rose] Oh boy.

- Following the showing of the film, "One Detroit's" Bill Kubota moderated a panel discussion that featured the filmmaker and three local experts on caregiving and dementia health.

Here's a portion of that conversation.

- Rea, talking about this film, making the film, you know, how it came about probably a while ago.

How does this all get started?

- So, as I said, you know, I was a caregiver for my mom.

This was going back to actually ancient history, 1997.

I was on the eve of a really nice success.

I was gonna go to the Venice Film Festival.

And my mom and I had a discussion on one day, she was gonna help me out, a poor filmmaker couldn't afford.

She was gonna put in on her credit card so I could fly out to the Venice Film Festival.

And then she said, "We'll discuss it more tomorrow."

I called her the next day and suddenly she didn't recognize my voice, and she had no recollection of the conversation.

So I knew something was wrong.

And, anyway, we worked out the details.

I went, but the whole time I was there I knew something was wrong, and that was the first indication.

Anyways, fast forward over, you know, the next two to three years she developed and then she finally was diagnosed with dementia.

And I was flying back and forth a lot.

In the beginning, my friends would say, "Oh, you should really make a movie out of this."

And I really didn't want to because I thought, "Well, this is so personal."

I wasn't ready, you know?

I wasn't ready to do that.

But then, you know, as years went by, I would take photos, I would have little video clips on my phone.

I was kind of, you know, showing things to family members who wanted to kind of update.

So I developed this archive of really, you know, like a lot of little clips here and there.

And then I started to realize like, you know, there really isn't anything out there that really shows what it's like to be a caregiver.

And there's nothing that I really relate to in terms of the media or the depictions or the conversations around dementia.

A lot of it was around tragedy.

And, you know, of course, there's loss in this process, and, of course, there's hardship, but there's also other aspects to this.

For lack of a better word, I hate this word, but sometimes I'll have to use it like humanizing, right?

It's like something that really puts us in touch with the cycles of life, loss, aging, but also connection and really starting to come to terms with what your parent or your loved one has been, what they've been through throughout core course of their life.

And I wanted to, you know, try to encapsulate some of these things, these experiences that I was witnessing.

I wanted to find a way so that people wouldn't necessarily be instantly like, "Oh my God, that's so awful."

You know, "That must just be so hard."

And I kind of got tired of, you know, getting that response from people.

I just wanna say, "No, it's part of life actually."

- Well, I'm interested in the three of you up here watching this what you thought.

- Okay, so I actually have different feelings when I watch it a second time.

So I think it's a very gentle and honest way to approach caregiving.

It's just daily life.

Sometimes we feel it's repeated and we might get bored, but just it's real life.

Everybody's gonna have aging.

But I see Rose, you really enter her inner world and respect her.

So she keep her personality, identity, and she's dignity.

So I really love the movie.

- [Rea] Thank you.

- I think I was also struck by the idea that you presented of change being part of life.

And I think that's something that I see a lot of my patients and their families struggle with, is they're holding on this idea that people stay the same.

And that's, you know, if we're talking even outside of dementia, other medical diseases, other things in our life, none of us stay the same.

And I think Rose's story was really interesting because of some changes that were forced upon her.

And I think the thing that really stuck out in my mind was that image of, well, this was her name, and then this was her name, and then this was her name, and this was the name that she gave herself as she was becoming this new person.

And so, you know, the scene of her talking about you have to learn about yourself, right?

And that has really stuck with me and this idea of change being a process that we can't escape, but we can learn how to kind of deal with and manage, and it's part of what we try and help people do.

But it doesn't necessarily mean it's an easy thing as I'm sure many of us know.

- For me it was very raw and very unapologetic view on caregiving.

Not only from your aspect, but from your mom's aspect as well.

Just even something so simple as you walking into the room and opening the blinds in the morning.

For me, that was my routine with my father.

But just seeing that brought me back all to those days of caregiving for him, the years that he was, you know, bedbound.

And, again, just offering that type of dignity to your mom, it was just beautiful.

- Caregiving, you know, is kind of part of our culture as Asian Americans.

And, you know, sometimes I think about, well, maybe at least with my family, but Shaista you were talking a little bit about that.

We all were, but talk about that a little bit.

- I think one of the things that, you know, as my journey as a caregiver evolved and what I had seen was that especially within my own community, it was all laid on the, you know, eldest daughter especially, although I have a brother who was four years younger, it was all going to be on me.

And for me it was just a perfect storm of things that happened.

First, my father was diagnosed with a debilitating neurological condition, and at the same time my mother-in-law came to live with me from India.

And it was just these challenges that I had to face day to day and contacting local senior care companies to help with the day-to-day activities was not only something that was so foreign to them, but it was very difficult for me as well.

I had to contact, you know, I contacted another local group and they were like, "Well, why don't you contact your local mosque or temple or gurdwara."

And I was like, "Well, I did, that's why I'm coming to you to ask for a resource."

And they had nothing.

And it wasn't until, to be honest, my best friend who's sitting here in the audience, it was somebody in her community who was looking for work and by chance was a CNA who was able to place with my mother-in-law.

So that woman spoke the same language, she could cook the same similar foods for her.

And she was able to fit the role that I could not as I was trying to balance both households and three small children.

But again, it usually falls on, especially within our culture, it's the, you know, eldest daughter.

- It's something I was thinking about a lot how dementia culturally fits within Asian American communities or kind of in Asian cultural context.

And it's always tough to say, right, BEcause it's not a monoculture, there's all different types of people and cultures and things, but my experience and I think, you know, Shaista's experience speaks to that too, tends to be limited to family, right?

And particularly on the oldest, especially oldest daughter or daughter-in-law.

And I think one of the things that, especially in the kind of day and age we live in where family's not all together, they might be farther apart, is that network sometimes needs to be broader or larger.

And I think about potentially the stigma that might also go along with having problems with behavior or thinking skills or memory skills and how that might also be a part of some of our cultural context and that disconnect there of saying, "Well, it's in our culture to take care of our elders and to look out for family, but maybe not necessarily to involve other people in your community."

And I think that's something that I know I think about a lot in my practice, especially in this day and age as something that we should be maybe hoping to change a little bit.

- Yeah, I think there are many stigmas in the (indistinct) communities, like roles.

Like Rose, she refused to take so many medicines, which is vitamins, and I think people just don't want to go to doctor.

And also all the caregiving happens mostly very quietly at home and the family caregiver wouldn't like go outside to seek support even though they have maybe challenge balancing their family and work.

I think it's not a option or choice, it's responsibilities to taking care of the elderlies in the family.

And therefore we do see, like ACAs daily work.

We serve lots of immigrants, families, Asian families, but we do see their big burden, like due to the cultural barrier, language barrier, they kind of feel the resource available is not accessible.

It's kind of gap.

So I think it's challenge for them, just don't know where to seek for help.

And so I think based on a lot of things (indistinct) did, we're trying to help create things like, it's not one person's responsibility or just a sister.

And it could be teamwork, like it could be efforts from the whole community so that we have more resources put together for those caregivers and those who need to be taken care of.

- I'd like you to talk a little bit more about what you've done with your organizations, you know, and how that came about and where it's going.

- So I started this company in 2014 when my father was diagnosed with a debilitating neurological condition.

At the same time, as I said, my mother-in-law had come to live with me from India.

My husband decided right at that time that he had to go and do a fellowship in critical care.

So, you know, to balance both households and three small children, he was like, "Why don't you contact one of these local senior care companies?

And they'll help, you know, with ummi," and I did.

And unfortunately they just could not meet those unique challenges that she was facing.

Language, of course, the food was one of the biggest thing, language and food.

And with my parents language was not an issue.

They had immigrated here in 1973=74, but the cultural nuances were far greater.

So in 2014, I quit my job as a clinical research coordinator at Providence Park in neurological sciences.

And I started this company not having a business background whatsoever, but just knowing that I could not be only person in this situation.

There had to be others.

- Are we seeing more, you know, culturally specific companies along your lines?

I'm under the impression not that much of that going on.

- No, we were the first agency here in the state of Michigan and still in others.

There's one out in New York that's catering to the Russian community, the elderly Russian community.

But the idea for Apna Gharz, now Sukoon Care is to be kind of an umbrella for all elderly ethnic minorities.

We want everybody to come here to get the information that is needed to care for their loved one, again, to allow them to age in place with dignity and respect.

But yes, we are the only agency at this point in time.

We have calls from, you know, other people in other states, but unfortunately we're not there yet.

We hope to be.

But what we do offer those individuals is if we can send referrals for live-in caregivers.

Those caregivers can live in with your parents and that allows them also, you know, the freedom to stay in place.

- You can see the entire "Wisdom Gone Wild" panel discussion at onedetroitpbs.org.

Let's turn now to the Milford Independent Cinema in Western Oakland County.

The nonprofit movie house was in danger of closing at the end of January.

It was short the money it needed to operate, but donations came through and the theater has resumed its programming.

"One Detroit's" Bill Kubota visited the cinema last year and has this report on its history and operations.

(intriguing music) - [Bill] The Village of Milford over by the western edge of Oakland County.

Population 6,500.

At the old movie house, a classic on the big screen.

- Tonight for our film Appreciation Night, which is a free admission show, we're showing "Airplane!"

from 1980, pretty much one of the kind of wackiest comedies out there.

- Smoking or non-smoking.

- Smoking please.

- Have a nice trip.

- [Bill] Were you round when it first came out?

- So I was.

With this being released in 1980, I would've been in five.

- Surely you can't be serious.

- I am serious.

And don't call me Shirley.

- They will be the first time I've watched it in the theater and countless dozens of times I've watched it elsewhere.

- [Bill] Elsewhere?

That'd be cable television, peppered with commercials, some scenes tastefully removed for general audiences.

In Milford, "Airplane!"

intact as it was in theater's generations ago.

- Hey, Jay, what the hell is that?

- Maybe, why that's the Russian New Year.

You know, we have a big creative look, sir.

- [Bill] The movies here: a mix of the classics and the contemporary.

- Wow, this was from when we had "Becoming Led Zeppelin."

That was a really good movie.

Oh, "Minecraft."

That was probably our number one movie so far this year.

- [Bill] The Milford Independent Cinema is a non-profit endeavor.

A movie theater saved by the community, now operated by the Huron Valley Film Organization.

- The medium popcorn is gonna be $5.

- [Bill] A couple of paid staff and a lot of others pitching in.

- Everybody else is volunteers, so everyone getting your popcorn, your pop, cleaning up, you know, after the show, our whole board, we're all volunteers.

It's definitely a community effort.

- [Bill] When the COVID shutdown hit and people stayed home, the Milford Cinema closed.

It had been on Summit Street, northeast of downtown for more than 50 years.

moving here from its original Main Street location decades earlier called the Star Theater a century ago.

- Let's get this game going.

Sound good?

- [Speaker] Woo woo.

- [Bill] Another Monday evening, no movie.

It's Movie Trivia Night.

- James Cameron's "Aliens" features three cast members who would appear together in what vampire film directed by Kathryn Bigelow?

Two minutes.

Part of our mission is to bring film and film knowledge to the community.

We have some fun, we play for a couple hours, we sell some popcorn, and that helps to keep our doors open as well and everybody has a good time.

All those are now in.

- [Bill] Among the board of directors, Rich Trice, school teacher, Bryan Gutierrez, real estate agent, and Ryan Wiltse, award-winning beer maker at the River's Edge Brewing Company.

- When we moved here, I was just shocked there was a small theater in town and just super geeked about it.

Love movies, I've always loved movies.

During COVID when it went out of business, it's just a tragedy losing like this little gem in town.

- We saw immediately there was a massive outpouring in the community of sadness about losing this cinema.

- It was definitely a big loss for our community.

- [Bill] A plan came together at Wiltse's place.

- Actually just over a beer at River's Edge Brewery talking to some people's kind of like, "Man, I wonder if we could form a non-profit and see what we could do here."

- He followed that up with, you know, "Hey, I'm thinking about getting some local business owners and community leaders to get together.

Do you want in?"

And I think I emphatically said "Yes!"

before he even finished the question.

- The desire is there.

the challenge of pulling it off is tough.

We got very lucky in that we have a strong support from the community as well as the owners of the building were very much interested in keeping this going as a cinema and so our overhead was less significant than some of the other theaters that have tried to be saved.

- When we reopened the theater, we wanted to expand the vision, expand the business plan to include more.

It wasn't going to be enough just to show films.

- [Bill] Hosting local events is part of the formula.

- We want it to be, and it is, a cultural and a social hub.

We are competing against the big multiplexes, and in general we're doing really well, but we still rely on the donor support to kind of help us even out like those spikes and dips throughout the year.

That really, really helps us a lot.

- [Bill] Statistically, moviegoers have not returned in numbers seen before the pandemic, although recent reports show Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012 are showing up more often at theaters these days.

That despite competition from online subscription services.

- Yes, you can stream it.

Yes, you can watch it on a television or a small device.

But when you can be amongst other moviegoers who are experiencing it at the same time as you are and laughing at the same time or screaming at the same time, you know, while you're relaxed in an environment eating your popcorn together, that's such a special way to watch a movie.

- [Bill] On film Appreciation Night, some stay late to discuss the movie.

This time, that high flying classic.

- Looking at it today, do you think they could make this movie as is today?

- [Bill] They get a bit of film theory and a breakdown of some of the sound design.

- Anybody notice anything about the sound of the plane?

It's a four-jet engine plane, but every time you see an outside shot, it's a turbo prop sound that you hear.

- We think we provide a very interesting and exciting voice in the community, and we're proud of what it is that we're doing here.

- Awesome, well, thank you for joining us, and we hope we'll see you again.

- If we weren't here, people would really miss what we have.

I think for as long as it can be a nonprofit space, it will be, and we're gonna continue to fight to stay open and continue to fundraise and ask people for help.

- Keep on our website milfordcinema.org for our upcoming shows and more fan events that we've got going on throughout the summer.

- That'll do it for this week's "One Detroit."

Thank you for watching.

Head to the "One Detroit" website for all the stories we're working on, follow us on social media, and sign up for our newsletter.

(intriguing music) - [Announcer] Brought to you in part by Ralph C. Wilson Jr.

Foundation, Impart Alliance, and by.

- [Announcer] Across our Masco family of companies, our goal is to deliver better living possibilities and make positive changes in the neighborhoods where we live, work, and do business.

Masco, a Michigan company since 1929, - [Announcer] Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

- [Announcer] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Through our giving, we are committed to meeting the needs of the communities we serve statewide to help ensure a bright and thriving future for all.

Learn more at DTEFoundation.com.

- [Announcer] Nissan Foundation.

And viewers like you.

(intriguing music)