I'm Still Here Foundation Revives the “Meet Me at the Movies” Legacy Program
Lexington, MA—September 1, 2026—The I'm Still Here Foundation (ISHF) will revive Meet Me at the Movies, its landmark dementia engagement program, at the Lexington Community Center on Wednesday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m. Funded by a grant from The Dana Home Foundation and produced in partnership with the Lexington Council on Aging and LexMedia, the three-part live series will be recorded on local cable and online.
Created by ISHF Founder Dr. John Zeisel and the late Sean Caulfield in partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival, Meet Me at the Movies uses carefully curated clips from classic film and TV shows to engage viewers living with dementia.
Featuring everything from Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain and Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, these clips serve as springboards for guided discussion and shared reminiscence. Trained facilitators introduce each clip with trivia and prompts, show the scene, then lead participants through a conversation rooted in memory and humor.
“Going to the movies with your family member is something most people assume they can't do anymore once dementia enters the picture,” said Sharon Johnson, ISHF Executive Director. “Meet Me at the Movies gives that back.”
According to Johnson, the Lexington series marks a new era for the program. For the first time, sessions will be filmed and streamed on a local cable station, allowing families who cannot attend in person to enjoy the program from home.
“The big theater events we have done are wonderful, but what we've learned is that this works just as well in a community room, a senior center, or an assisted living community,” she added. “Anywhere people can gather, you can create this experience.”
Later this year, ISHF plans to release a Meet Me at the Movies kit — a curated library of field-tested film clips, facilitator scripts, and best-practice guidance. Senior living communities, adult day programs, councils on aging, libraries, and family caregivers will be able to purchase the kit and host their own screenings, with support from companion webinars led by ISHF staff.
“Once you understand the pattern, you're off and running,” explained Johnson. “You can build a program around Broadway musicals, love stories for Valentine's Day, or whatever resonates with the people in your program. Our research team has done extensive testing. We know which clips tend to work and why.”
ISHF Founder Dr. John Zeisel, who has spent nearly three decades demonstrating the power of non-pharmacologic engagement, said the program consistently produces results that surprise families and clinicians alike.
“When someone living with dementia recognizes an actor or a scene, something extraordinary happens,” he said. “They laugh, they tell a story, they turn to the person next to them, and they connect. Engagement is medicine.”
The Lexington series is free and open to the public. Reservations are required at www.lexrecma.com or by calling 781-698-4840. Additional sessions are scheduled for October 2026 and spring 2027.
Founded in 1995, the I'm Still Here Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps communities and organizations implement research-informed, non-pharmacologic engagement programs so that people living with dementia can experience connection, dignity, and hope. ISHF works in close partnership with Hopeful Aging LLC, a National Institutes of Health–funded leader in non-pharmacologic dementia research, also founded by Dr. John Zeisel. To learn more, visit imstillhere.org.
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