CMPA ALUM TO RELEASE MOVIE WITH A PUBLIC HEALTH MESSAGE
FSU/CMPA ALUM TO RELEASE MOVIE WITH A PUBLIC HEALTH MESSAGE
Filmmaker Kenneth Jones Uses Power of Silver Screen to Advocate for Caregivers
Kenneth Jones, a seasoned filmmaker, and owner of JVision Pictures, will strategically release his third independent film in November of this year in coordination with nationwide activities recognizing National Family Caregivers Month. Titled My Music, the movie is set in the 1980s and is the story of Ruth, a teenage girl who is sent to take care of her aging Aunt Inez who is suffering with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Jones artfully uses My Music as his bully pulpit for shining a bright but sometimes harsh light on the realities of caring for the elderly, with particular attention given to Alzheimer’s disease.
Says Jones, “I was inspired to write My Music based on my memories of my mother’s experiences as a young girl being one of the caregivers for her grandmother.” Jones, a graduate of Florida State University’s 1991 inaugural MFA class, says he has seen and witnessed caregiving in action from a young boy to the present. “I feel that we have moved away from acts of caregiving, so I want this film to stimulate important conversations about caregiving and the public health crisis that it is becoming.”
My Music is a sentimental love story that takes the moviegoer on the journey of a teenage girl who is thrust into the role of primary caregiver for someone whose mental faculties are slipping away. Isolated, lonely, and exhausted, Ruth finds respite from the challenges of caregiving by listening to music from her aunt’s old record collection. Ruth slips away to the old Thunderbird in her aunt’s garage where the dilapidated automobile becomes her haven for escapism into a fantasy world of music and stardom. Overwhelmed by the demands of caring for her aunt, she is increasingly drawn into her own dreamscape until fantasy and reality clash when her aunt is unexpectedly taken to the hospital. It is then that Ruth realizes that her love and dedication to her family will always come first.
My Music debuted at the 2019 Sedona Film Festival and was recently selected to be part of the lineup for the AARP’s 2021 Florida Film Festival. The movie will also be distributed by Amazon beginning in mid-to-late November of this year.
My Music will screen publicly from November 5 through November 7 at CMX Cinemas at Fallschase (Tallahassee). Each showing will be followed by a Q&A session and community conversations where filmmaker Kenneth Jones will lead a discussion about caregiving, its portrayal in the movie, and more. Tickets can be secured on the EventBrite website. More information about My Music can be found on the film’s Facebook page (mymusicindifilm), Twitter site, or on the JVision Pictures LinkedIn page. Questions should be directed to JVisionPictures3@gmail.com or 850.510.6177.