SHARE THE BEAT!
Hi Everyone! It’s Phil Lyall here, co-director of 65_RedRoses, writing you from Toronto!
2011 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for 65_RedRoses. On top of the Oprah announcement, I wanted to share some developing news regarding the films outreach in the fundraising community.
I recently spoke with Jamie Redford (son of Robert Redford) who is Founder and President of The James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness (JRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the need for organ and tissue donation through film, educational outreach and the web. Jamie founded the organization in 1995, two years after receiving a liver transplant. He recently watched 65_RedRoses with his wife and was deeply moved by Eva and her story. It obviously brought him back to his own experiences waiting for transplant. One powerful moment that stuck out to him was the scene where Eva is about to go under for surgery and she whispers “I love everyone so much”. He remembers being in that exact moment and thinking this may be his last breath. He might never wake up again and that shook Mr. Redford to the core.
Jamie and Eva share an obvious link because they are organ recipients but they also encountered organ failure . A week after Jamie received a new liver, it began to fail and the doctors put him back on the list for a second transplant. Like Eva, he went back to the organ donation waiting game, getting sicker every day and feeling like “the clock was really ticking”. Miraculously, another donor was found and, this time, the transplant was a complete success. Inspired by his life-saving transplant, he produced an award-winning HBO documentary, The Kindness of Strangers (1998), that integrated the stories of transplant recipients and the families of the organ donors who lost their loved ones. Even though Eva never received her second transplant, she always said that the two years she was given to live “fully” with her new lungs was the greatest gift she had ever received. Now that Eva is gone, her legacy and her message of organ donation awareness lives on and Jamie is eager to spread her voice and influence to further audiences.
Jamie has invited 65_RedRoses to be part of an event called “Share the Beat”. It benefits the American Society of Transplantation (AST) – www.a-s-t.org and the Redford Animaction Project: It’s a RAP! www.redfordanimactionproject.com. It is an evening that celebrates the hope in transplantation by using the power of music and storytelling to raise awareness and funds for the transplant community. Clips from 65_RedRoses will be screened at the event (along with a few other films) as well as a speaker close to Eva’s story will be in attendance.
The event is in early 2011 in San Francisco. Tickets and scheduled date will be announced in the next few months. If you are interested in attending the event and supporting transplant awareness please bookmark this site and check in regularly for updates:
As well, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any further developments regarding “Share the Beat”.
Thank you Jamie for your incredible on-going efforts in spreading transplantation awareness and thank you for including 65_RedRoses to help further the cause in the US!
All the best everyone!
Phil 😉
