Private Project

The Memory Boom

THE MEMORY BOOM is an experimental feature that recreates the experiences of dementia through an immersive blend of spoken word, documentary, dramatic reconstruction, and never-before-seen decayed archive footage. This footage includes disintegrated 16mm film from the 1930s to the 1960s, featuring major historical events and world travel. The film is framed from inside the mind of Pops, a hospitalised grandfather with severe dementia. The deteriorated 16mm film serves as a visual exploration of Pops' dementia-affected memories.

Pops' grandson narrates from his bedside, attempting to preserve Pops' memories while struggling to comprehend memory loss. Pops' confused thoughts rise to the surface, and he shares them with his grandson as if it were 'storytime,' leading him down rivulets of muddled tales and garbled memories spanning his lifetime. A Filipina hospital nurse supports the grandson, sharing her own regrets about being unable to help her dementia-affected father in the Philippines. The film charts the trio's journeys through emotional turmoil and confusion, leading to a deeper understanding of the nuances of memory.

THE MEMORY BOOM was created with documentary participants from community groups across Devon and Dorset (rural England) and features narration from Dorset residents with lived experience of the film's subject. The film includes archive material courtesy of Exeter Phoenix, digitised in 2023 after being anonymously donated to the organisation decades ago. The film was made in memory of the filmmakers’ relatives who lived with dementia and explores memory preservation and photographic consent in the modern era.

  • Xenia Glen
    Director
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer)
  • Antosh Wojcik
    Writer
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), How To Keep Time (Theatre, international tour supported by the Arts Council England 2019, produced by Penned in the Margins), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (as Development Producer, BBC3 and BBC iPlayer)
  • Xenia Glen
    Writer
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer)
  • Xenia Glen
    Producer
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer), The Process (supported by the Brigstow Institute 2023)
  • Yemi Adegbulu
    Producer
    Dreamers (Associate Producer, BBC Film 2024), My Filipino (Assistant Producer, London Short Film Festival 2023), Goodbye Train (Winner of the Wiggin Award, Roundhouse 2023)
  • Paul Foster
    Key Cast
    "Pops"
  • Venus Perez-Lonoy
    Key Cast
    "Filipina Nurse"
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer)
  • Antosh Wojcik
    Key Cast
    "Grandson"
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), How To Keep Time (Theatre, international tour supported by the Arts Council England 2019, produced by Penned in the Margins), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023)
  • Xenia Glen
    Editor
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer), The Process (supported by the Brigstow Institute 2023)
  • Antosh Wojcik
    Sound Designer
    Alo (BFI London Film Festival 2023, Sundance Film Festival London 2024), My Filipino (London Short Film Festival 2023), Backbone (BBC3 and BBC iPlayer), The Process (supported by the Brigstow Institute 2023)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature
  • Genres:
    Creative documentary, drama, experimental
  • Runtime:
    1 hour
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.37:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
    Tallinn
    Estonia
    November 22, 2024
    World Premiere
    In competition in the Rebels with a Cause programme
  • The REC International Festival of Cinema Tarragona
    Tarragona
    Spain
    December 5, 2025
    Spain Premiere
Director Biography - Xenia Glen

Xenia is a Filipino-British filmmaker and co-founder of Sleepwalker, a Dorset-based production company and filmmakers' collective. As a producer, Xenia is currently in post-production on The Walnut of Knowledge, a short documentary supported by the BFI Doc Society Made of Truth fund, and developing Sleepwalker’s slate of short and feature films across fiction and documentary.

As a director, Xenia is currently making a film for the Leeside Arts Commission about the Camel Estuary. Her latest film, The Memory Boom, is an experimental feature that premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Her short, Alo, screened at the BFI London Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival London. She is developing Carabao, a feature expansion of Alo, with Home Team, supported by both the BFI Network's Early Development Fund and the BFI’s Development Fund. Her debut narrative short film Backbone was broadcast nationally on BBC Three. Her work has played at LSFF, REC Film Festival, and on BBC iPlayer.

Xenia has received the John Brabourne Award, BAFTA Mentorship, and participated in the BFI Network’s Shorts2Features and NETWORK@LFF programmes.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a filmmaker with non-visible health conditions, I aim to visually and audibly express internal symptoms of non-visible conditions through my films. This approach is evident in my short films BACKBONE (BBC3) and ALO (BFI London Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival London). In THE MEMORY BOOM, I explored the internal symptoms of memory deterioration and the broader experience of dementia.

When commissioned to create a film from the archive used in THE MEMORY BOOM, I hadn't seen the footage and didn't know what to expect. At that time, it was unknown who had recorded the archive footage. When reviewing the material, I felt a strong nostalgia for a time I never experienced. The footage had deteriorated over time. These holiday and home movies had been gradually disintegrating since the '30s. The expired and broken footage inspired me to use the archive as an experimental exploration of memory loss, framing the footage as the memories of a hospital patient with dementia, losing access to and clarity of his memories. I was inspired to explore this subject due to having an estranged relationship with my grandfather in the Philippines, who lived with dementia and passed away during the development of this film.

I was further inspired by the Caretaker (music), SANS SOLEIL, HOW TO KEEP TIME by my co-writer Antosh Wojcik, and the works of Stan Brakhage. It’s crucial for me to make films ethically, ensuring the process does not trigger participants or co-creators. Instead of traditional documentary interviews, I held writing workshops where contributors could share their stories in response to the archive footage.

The concept of the film was devised (co-created) with the contributors throughout the filmmaking process. The film features narration consisting of scripted dramatic recreations, by narrators (actors), who have varying lived experience of the subject. The narration incorporates both devised and verbatim performances to safeguard contributors' identities. These performances were carefully workshopped and recorded in safeguarded sessions with the contributors, who were given the option to be named or remain anonymous. I'm moved by and grateful for how they generously and bravely shared their stories.

My aim is for the film is to encourage the use of archival filmmaking, and to foster understanding and community for those affected by dementia.