March 05, 2012
Can 65_RedRoses Change Your Life?
By
Michelle Reid
The OWN Documentary Club premiere of 65_RedRoses is just ahead in May, and community screenings are being organized around Canada, so it's on our minds lately: what kind of impact will we see after the film airs? Eva's hope, and ours too, is that people will be inspired to take the simple step of registering as organ donors, and supporting cystic fibrosis research.
Serendipitously, while we were thinking about this question, an article was posted that answered it exactly! "Will Food Inc. Actually Change Your Life?" is from a study that asked what impact movies have on behaviour. Researchers found that people who see a documentary film, compared to people with similar values who don't see the film, are actually likely to take action and make changes!
The Norman Lear Research Centre conducted a study on Food Inc, by analyzing the shared traits and values of a Food inc audience against people with similar traits & values who hadn't seen the film. In other words, two groups of almost identical people differentiated by whether or not they had watched Food Inc. The group that had seen Food Inc had changed their food buying and shopping behaviour- just as the filmmakers intended!
This isn't too surprising to us- at Hello Cool World, we've been building campaigns that use effective storytelling to promote healthy behaviours for a long time. Other recent research, such as this article on storytelling and statistics, supports the theory that information conveyed through first-person stories and narratives is much more powerful than just information alone.
That's why Eva's story is so incredible. Not only was she a wonderful person, but through her experience the audience sees firsthand why organ donor registration is so important, and it motivates them to take action! This is supported by a post BC Transplant made on their Facebook Page a few days ago: organ donor registrations in Canada tripled after the broadcast of the original version of 65_RedRoses. We can't wait to see the impact of the new version when it reaches even more people!
The first screening EVER of the new version is happening this Thursday at Capilano University in North Vancouver. If you want to bring 65_RedRoses to your community, check out our community screenings page. Also, watch the trailer for 65_RedRoses here!
Tag(s):
65_RedRoses,
Arts and Culture
Recent Blogs by Michelle Reid:
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On March 05, 2012 at 09:02 AM Judy bowe wrote:
65_RedRoses DID change my life! Through it I started communicating with Eva. She taught me how to hope, and how to start living. Really living. I owe her everything.
On March 05, 2012 at 09:16 AM Taylor Brophy wrote:
As a CF patient, Eva's story already DID change my life & I can not wait for it to premiere in the States in May!
Michelle is a freelance writer and anthropologist with a Master of Public Health from UBC. Her passions are promoting health and building community. She's worked in grassroots community organizations in Vancouver, Victoria and Oceania.
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