Fight FTD!

My name is Lukas Olszewski, I am a doctor and a filmmaker and I need your support to tell my story about Frontotemporal Dementia - a disease that hits even young people!

Update January 2023:

We are almost at the finish line! Only a few more weeks, and we’ll be finished with the post production! So excited about how our 35 min. drama remember me will be received world wide! We’ll start submitting it to festivals beginning in April, so hopefully we’ll be seeing it worldwide beginning in summer 2023! Help us with your donation!

Update: August 11th 2022: We successfully finished shooting our film "remember me", dealing with frontotemporal dementia, and we are both: very exhausted from the amount of work – but very happy with the material!

We will need further support to create the best possible film from this incredible material, so please keep going and help us make a change! GoFundUs!

–GERMAN BELOW–

My name is Lukas Olszewski, I am a doctor and filmmaker and I need your support!

I want to make a long lasting change for all the families suffering from frontotemporal dementia, who are desperately looking for answers, left alone in the unknown for so long – by raising awareness this truly insidious disease! This disease destroys the people affected – and often their loved ones.

I have spent the last four years of my life witnessing the destructive power of a rare form of dementia, which is caused by an irreversible decline of neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The most prominent symptoms include slow changes in personality and behavior as well as a loss of empathy and the ability for abstract reasoning. There is no cure and the average life expectancy from onset of symptoms is only about eight to ten years.

Frontotemporal Dementia, short FTD, is a disease that, during the first years, pretends not to be one. It even sneaks into young peoples lives.

I have witnessed the course of this insidious illness as a close friend: the subtle change in personality, the slow loss of empathy – years pass until relatives seek and finally do get help for their sick loved ones. They are in the dark.

We need financial support for the 10-day film shooting of the drama "Remember Me" about early-onset-dementia. Shooting period is July 2022 and I am committed to finalize this film this year!

The story: Life could be perfect for two lovers expecting their first child, but when rising opera star Elina begins acting bizarrely, Max, a junior doctor, must fight his self-doubt to salvage the family unit.

Our mission: With this film, we want to share the moving story of one affected family, in the hope of helping many others. We want to raise awareness of FTD and thereby change the fact that most patients go for many years without a diagnosis. Too many people are living with the daily trauma of seeing their loved ones change before their eyes, with medical staff being just as baffled as they are. We want families to get help sooner, and for them to be able to access full support from the moment of diagnosis. There is a lot of work to do!

20 percent of all previous donations will go to Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft e.V., about 900 Euro up to this day (August 11th 2022)

We are supported by https://www.bluefieldproject.org – a research organization working on developing a cure for FTD

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely, Lukas Olszewski

Lukas Olszewski, photo by Stephen Wells

Lukas Olszewski – "MAX"

is a doctor who graduated at the University of Tuebingen. For his doctoral thesis, he has worked with Prof. Karnath on neuropsychological symptoms and neuroimaging in multiple sclerosis. He has gathered work experience in internal medicine and kids & adolescent mental healthcare.

Following his artistic passion, Lukas also received acting training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute New York City. He is currently working as a freelance writer and actor, living in Leipzig.

Being a doctor is one way to look at this terrible disease, and to talk about it - there is still no cure. Having lost someone affected by FTD, Lukas had to find a different medium to raise awareness. By telling the moving story of a family affected by this disease. 

https://palomaguillen.es/portfolio-item/lukas-olszewski/ 

Solgerd Isalv – "ELINA"

studied opera and acting at the Academy of Music and Drama, Gothenburg. After finishing her master's degree, Solgerd Isalv pursued her interest in improvisation at Improverket, Gothenburg and with Impropera, London. She took a series of courses in the Gestalt Method for actors and started to slowly focus on working with film. Nevertheless, Solgerd Isalv also enjoyed working in Radio Drama at the Swedish Radio Theatre. Solgerd Isalv moved to Germany in 2011, to pursue her operatic career. Currently Solgerd Isalv is working freelance and in association with the Darmstadt State Theatre, singing major solo roles.

http://solgerd.com/about/singer/ 

Micky Graeter – DOP

was born 1991 in Munich. In 2011 he completed his first internship at

a ZDF television film and in 2012 he began studying Film and Television/Cinematography at die medienakademie in Munich. In 2014/15 he completed various internships at ARRI Rental Light & Grip and ARRI Rental Camera. In 2016 Micky Graeter did a Camera/VFX internship

at Independence Day 2 in the US. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2016 and became a freelance cinematographer. In 2017 he began his camera studies at the HFF Munich. The documentaryBiotop (director: Paul Scholten, cinematographer: Micky Graeter) screened at over 50 festivals, including the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and it won the German Young Filmmakers Award 2019.

http://www.graeter-film.com 

-GERMAN-

Ich bin Lukas Olszewski, Arzt und Filmemacher und ich brauche Deine Hilfe!

Ich will dauerhaft etwas verändern für all die Familien, die im Stillen unter den Auswirkungen einer Frontotemporalen Demenz leiden müssen, die verzweifelt nach Antworten suchen und so lange in Ungewissheit leben müssen – indem ich Bewusstsein schaffe für diese wirkliche heimtückische Erkrankung. Diese Form der Demenz zerstört die daran erkrankten Menschen – und sehr oft auch ihre Angehörigen.

In den vergangenen Jahren meines Lebens habe ich aus nächster Nähe die zerstörerische Kraft einer seltenen Form von Demenz erleben müssen, die durch einen irreversiblen Nervenzelluntergang in den Stirnlappen (Frontallappen) und den Schläfenlappen (Temporallappen) des Gehirns verursacht wird. Im Vordergrund der Symptomatik stehen Veränderungen der Persönlichkeit und des Verhaltens, ein Verlust von Empathie und der Fähigkeit, abstrakt zu denken. Es gibt keine Heilung, die durchschnittliche Lebenserwartung ab Beginn der Symptome liegt bei nur acht bis zehn Jahren.

Frontotemporale Demenz, kurz FTD, ist eine Krankheit, die jahrelang so tut, als sei sie gar keine. Die sich unmerklich in das Leben selbst junger Menschen einschleicht.

Ich habe den Verlauf dieser heimtückischen Krankheit aus nächster Nähe miterlebt: die schleichende Veränderung der Persönlichkeit, den langsamen Verlust jeglicher Empathie – Jahre vergehen, bis Angehörige für ihre Nächsten Hilfe suchen und schließlich auch bekommen. Sie tappen im Dunkeln.

Wir benötigen finanzielle Unterstützung für die zehntätige Filmproduktion unseres Spielfilmprojektes "Remember Me" zum Thema Frühdemenz. Zeitraum des Drehs ist Juli 2022 und ich möchte diesen Film dieses Jahr fertig stellen!

Die Geschichte: Alles läuft nach Plan für ein verliebtes Paar, das sein erstes Kind erwartet — doch als sich die aufstrebende Opernsängerin Elina über Jahre immer sonderbarer verhält, muss der junge Arzt Max seine Selbstzweifel überwinden, um seine Familie zu retten.

Unsere Mission: In diesem Film erzählen wir die bewegende Geschichte einer jungen betroffenen Familie, in der Hoffnung, vielen weiteren Menschen damit zu helfen. Wir wollen Bewusstsein für die Krankheit der Frontotemporalen Demenz schaffen und dadurch das Schicksal all der Familien beeinflussen, die bisher jahrelang ohne Diagnose leben müssen. Viel zu viele Menschen müssen derzeit noch mit dem täglichen Trauma leben, den unerklärlichen Veränderungen ihrer geliebten Menschen hilflos zusehen zu müssen, während viele Mediziner häufig genauso ahnungslos agieren. Wir wünschen uns, dass Familien früher Hilfe finden und ab dem Zeitpunkt der Diagnose sofort Zugang zu umfangreicher Unterstützung erhalten. Es gibt noch viel zu tun!

20% der Spenden bisherigen Spenden gehen an die Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft e.V., ca. 900 Euro (Stand 11.8.2022)

Wir werden unterstützt von:

https://www.bluefieldproject.org – Ein Forschungsprojekt, das die Heilung von FTD zum Ziel hat

Vielen Dank für Ihre Unterstützung!

Herzlichst, Lukas Olszewski