65_RedRoses #4Eva Campaign

Directors Reflect on the Journey from Film to Campaign

In 2007, Philip Lyall and Nimisha Mukerji decided to make a documentary together about Philip’s friend, Eva Markvoort, who was waiting for a double lung transplant. They called it 65_RedRoses, borrowing the title from Eva’s popular blog. Fresh out of university, the pair had little experience and were both working as assistants on film sets, but they and Eva believed in the value of the story they were telling.

Nimisha Mukerji, Eva "65_RedRoses" Markvoort, & Philip Lyall at the NFB Awards

Now they’re getting ready for a dream come true: on May 3rd,9/8c, 65_RedRoses will premiere in the US on the OWN Documentary Club! Eva would be so excited!

We chatted with them about their friend Eva, the premiere, and her continuing legacy.

How did you meet Eva?

Philip: She was on my floor in residence at UVIC, this girl with red hair, loud and crazy like me. That’s how we became friends. After that, I moved to UBC, and we kind of lost touch. That’s when I met Nimisha, and when she and I graduated, that’s when I kind of reconnected with Eva. She was in the hospital waiting for a double lung transplant.

Nimisha: I think we had already talked about the potential of filming with her for short documentary or something like that, and then you introduced me to her. And we really quickly knew we wanted to make a film together. We decided, if we’re going to do this, we better start shooting now. If the pager goes off, we will have missed the story.

What was it like working with her?

Philip: Eva was really key for us getting all the access that we needed—not just with the hospital, but with her family too. I mean, Eva was the only one who believed that this could be something, and everyone else around her was skeptical at first but, because it was Eva, she was able to convince them to put 100% into this film.

Nimisha: I remember a scene at the hospital when she was coughing into a garbage bag. That night, she called and said, “I’m feeling really sick. I think you should come.” And we went and filmed her because she knew we needed to see her at her best, and we needed to see her at her worst. She recognized the importance of being able to film all those difficult moments too.

Philip: I think that was what was so brave of her, because a lot of people wouldn’t want to be filmed at some of their most sensitive and most insecure moments. But she was really smart, she understood the structure of storytelling and what we were trying to do. We didn’t have to tell her, she just knew.

Nimisha: Yeah, she trusted us, which is what I think is so amazing. When I met with her about it, and talked about the project with her, she really believed that we could make this film. And I think because she believed in us, we were always able to follow through.

Did you know 65_RedRoses was going to have such an amazing impact?

Nimisha: As documentary filmmakers, you can’t control what’s going to happen in your story, so in a lot of ways we were Eva waiting for the pager to go off, we had no idea if it ever would. But I think the thing was with Eva, we had this responsibility to her to tell her story as best as we could.

Philip: When we premiered the film at Hot Docs in Toronto, it was so amazing. We had this beautiful packed screening, and Eva was there to see it, and to really see the impact, to see how the audience would react. We knew after our first screening, that this movie going to work everywhere wherever it goes. And I think Eva knew, I think she knew all along.

Nimisha: She was very good at connecting with people, strangers, anyone, so I love the idea that this campaign and this film is like people getting to really meet Eva. They can be moved by her story, and take action, and do something.

How do you feel about your film premiering on OWN Documentary Club?

Philip: Of course we’re really excited that 65_RedRoses will be playing on the Oprah Winfrey Network!

Nimisha: It had always been a dream of Eva’s to have the film air in America. Eva talked a lot about Oprah. In fact, one time we tried to write Oprah a letter, before Eva passed away. So when we were green-lit for the Oprah Winfrey Network it was bittersweet, because it was what Eva had always wanted.

What do you hope people will do after seeing the OWN premiere?

Philip: After viewing the film, we’d really like for them to run to their computers and sign up to be an organ donor if they aren’t already one.

Nimisha: And I want people who purchase the film to know that this isn’t just a movie. You have really have taken a step in fulfilling Eva’s dream. I just want them to know that it’s going towards this movement that she started, and we really appreciate that it’s all about love. I think people can really feel Eva’s love through the film.

Are you registered as organ donors?

Philip: I became an organ donor the day I found out Eva needed new lungs. Why wouldn’t I give all my organs away after I die? The fact that you could save eight lives is a gift, you’re giving a gift if you could save someone like Eva, why wouldn’t you be an organ donor?

Nimisha: I’m an organ donor. The last day of shooting it had been in the back of my mind—I realized that I had to register to be an organ donor, and I just went online and checked off every box on the list.

Philip: We really believe in organ donation, because we see how it works. You know, we made a film where Eva was given a second chance, a new life. Even though it was brief, she wouldn’t have traded it for the world. She was given an extra two years, time to do the things she wasn’t able to do before. It doesn’t matter if it’s two years, five years, 20 years, you’re giving someone time.