Did you know that here in Australia the tick box on your driver's licence that you wish to be an organ donor should the question be asked, no longer matters? It is ultimately your family who decide when it comes down to it, and if they are unaware of your wishes, then there is a high chance that your valuable organs could go to waste.
This situation resulted in just 354 donors in 2012 in Australia. Although this in turn changed the lives of 1052 people who received the gift of life from these donors. But 354 is a tiny, tiny figure when you think of the population of Australia and the potential donors who could have helped people on the wait list!
Donate Life and the Film Life Project are working on raising awareness of this life saving issue, and the need for every Australian to Have The Chat with their family about their wishes in case the need ever arose. I went along to the short film screening on Saturday night with Carly and Camille, who is a very recent donor recipient herself. The Melbourne gathering was the satellite gathering, with the awards actually going on in Sydney, but the group at the Footscray Community Arts Centre were passionate and excited. Dr Feelgood, of talkback radio sex talk fame was there (and we met her!) as a judge, as well as a couple of the filmmakers of the night, and the tutors who supported them to produce these gems.
Essentially, the Melbourne films entered into the competition were the result of a workshop of people interested in getting into filmmaking. They were given 3 weeks to produce a short film on the topic of under 3 minutes - and they produced some serious gems! We got to view the 12 finalists in the competition, with the Melbourne group of entrants doing very well in the prize stakes!
Manni's Story was actually my favourite...check it out here:
Totally loved this one - BBQ, Beer and One Bloody Brilliant Idea - a pretty wacky way to present the message, and get people, and especially young people, talking about being an organ donor.
But this was the winner on the night - Somebody That I'll Never Know - a parody of the smash song and clip by Gotye last year. Hard not to love this one, with THAT song, and the added tidbit that the filmmaker is a organ recipient herself! Impressive!
Pretty awesome use of the body paint idea from Gotye's clip, really highlighting the very items that are so important in the organ donor gift.
You can view the rest of the films shown on the night here. You can also vote for the Nepean Intensive Care People's Choice here too, to give these budding local filmmakers a boost for their new found skill! Voting is open until next Friday, the 10th.
Have the chat with your family about your wishes, asap! And register your intent on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Save lives in the event that you lose yours.
This situation resulted in just 354 donors in 2012 in Australia. Although this in turn changed the lives of 1052 people who received the gift of life from these donors. But 354 is a tiny, tiny figure when you think of the population of Australia and the potential donors who could have helped people on the wait list!
Donate Life and the Film Life Project are working on raising awareness of this life saving issue, and the need for every Australian to Have The Chat with their family about their wishes in case the need ever arose. I went along to the short film screening on Saturday night with Carly and Camille, who is a very recent donor recipient herself. The Melbourne gathering was the satellite gathering, with the awards actually going on in Sydney, but the group at the Footscray Community Arts Centre were passionate and excited. Dr Feelgood, of talkback radio sex talk fame was there (and we met her!) as a judge, as well as a couple of the filmmakers of the night, and the tutors who supported them to produce these gems.
Essentially, the Melbourne films entered into the competition were the result of a workshop of people interested in getting into filmmaking. They were given 3 weeks to produce a short film on the topic of under 3 minutes - and they produced some serious gems! We got to view the 12 finalists in the competition, with the Melbourne group of entrants doing very well in the prize stakes!
Manni's Story was actually my favourite...check it out here:
Totally loved this one - BBQ, Beer and One Bloody Brilliant Idea - a pretty wacky way to present the message, and get people, and especially young people, talking about being an organ donor.
But this was the winner on the night - Somebody That I'll Never Know - a parody of the smash song and clip by Gotye last year. Hard not to love this one, with THAT song, and the added tidbit that the filmmaker is a organ recipient herself! Impressive!
Pretty awesome use of the body paint idea from Gotye's clip, really highlighting the very items that are so important in the organ donor gift.
You can view the rest of the films shown on the night here. You can also vote for the Nepean Intensive Care People's Choice here too, to give these budding local filmmakers a boost for their new found skill! Voting is open until next Friday, the 10th.
Have the chat with your family about your wishes, asap! And register your intent on the Australian Organ Donor Register. Save lives in the event that you lose yours.
You don't even have to wait til you're dead to save lives.
ReplyDeleteSomething that you right now is give blood. :)
Ohh, so true. My sister donated yesterday, and that saves 3 lives!
DeleteSuch a great post - thank you for coming. I agree, donating blood is also a way to save lives while alive. And I'm also of the theory that helping doctors with their training is too. Have had this song in my head for a week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for inviting me, and making me aware of the campaign! Such an important one.
DeleteI LOVE the winning blog. It was so great to get involved with this project and still be discovering other people talking about bits of it. I was one of the people who wrote a blog for the FilmLife Project which you read about here if you're interested. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://alyshaherrmann.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/filmlifeproject-blogging-competition-drumroll-please/
Thanks for the comment, Alysha. I really enjoyed your winning blog post! Well done!
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