Tuesday, July 7, 1998
The Kindness of Strangers
By Daphne Walker
(This article originally appeared in the July 7, 1999 edition of
Vermont Times, and is used with permission)
Ten people die every day waiting for an organ transplant while every 18 minutes another name is added to the transplant waiting list. Often it takes a tragedy for one family, a premature death for example, to save the life of another.
An award-winning documentary film about organ transplantation from the perspective of six families - both giving and receiving organs - will make its New England debut this week as part of the Vermont International Film Festival. The Kindness of Strangers, which won the Crystal Heart award at the Heartland Film Festival, will be shown at FAHC/UVM campus Marsh/Life Science auditorium on Saturday, July 10. A panel discussion with the film's producer, James Redford, it's director, Maro Chermayeff, UVM's transplant surgeon, Jeff Reese, and the Vermont coordinator for the New England Organ Bank, Pat Burds will follow at 6 p.m.
Redford has numerous Vermont connections. His mother is Charlotte resident Lola Van Wagenen and both his sisters once made the Burlington area their home. Van Wagenen is founder of Clio, Visualizing History, a new media company that produces documentaries and interactive educational films.
Redford is himself a liver transplant recipient; he
suffered from an auto immune disease of the liver. In 1993, he underwent
two transplant surgeries, then founded the James Redford Institute
(JRI) to create films and educational tools to bring organ transplant
awareness to all age groups. Other films JRI has produced include
Hearts and Bones starring Darryl Hannah and Kiefer Sutherland, From
One to Another, and Flow, a short film targeted for teens and classrooms.
Kindness of Strangers has been selected for viewing at numerous
film festivals including Sundance, Telluride, Philadelphia, and
Santa Barbara. It airs on HBO in September.
Maro Chermayeff, a childhood friend of Redford's, is a film producer,
editor, director and an instructor at New York University's Graduate
School of Film and Television. Her credits include numerous awards
and critical acclaim including Peabody, Emmy, and Academy Awards,
respectively. In the two-and-a-half years of filming Strangers,
Chermayeff gained the trust of patients and families whose lives
were touched by transplantation and filmed the individuals telling
their own stories. Some are near death awaiting an organ; other
families debate about providing organs when a loved one dies suddenly.
According to statistics, 85 percent of Americans approve of organ transplants, but only 35 percent actually donate. Often, signing a donor card is not enough. Individuals must also tell their families about their decision to become a donor to ensure their wishes will be carried out. More than 55,000 Americans are currently on the waiting list for a new organ; 30,000 are added each year.
Kindness of Strangers is screening in Vermont in part because of Redford's connection here, and also due to the work of Fletcher Allen Health Care and Vermont International Film Foundation.