The FilmLife Festival Screening Night

Lastnight I went along to the Screening Night for the FilmLife Project at Footscray Community Arts Centre. It was my first big social outing since my transplant (very exciting)!

'The FilmLife Project provides an opportunity for new and budding filmmakers to submit a three minute film around organ and tissue donation, specifically to help raise awareness around ‘knowing your loved ones wishes’ in conjunction with DonateLife Week 2013'

This year Sydney and Melbourne both had screening nights, and we watched the short films in unison between each city.

With Carly Findlay (Blog Judge) and Dr Sally Cockburn (Film Judge and Melbourne Screening MC)

Once again this year, there was also a FilmLife Blogging Competition. I was supposed to be on the judging panel, but I suggested that I may need a backup just in case I received a call....

I must have had a sixth sense, because that call came, and thank goodness, Carly stepped in for me on the Blog judging panel.

Carly and Tash

The short films were brilliant. It was great to be able to find out more about the process of making them from the filmmakers themselves, and the facilitators who ran the workshops.

The Melbourne crew with the Sydney crew on screen

The winning film was Somebody That I'll Never Know produced by Brooke Huuskes.




You can watch all of the films here - and you can vote for your favourite to win the peoples choice award. Each film is less than than three minutes long.

 
The winning blog was One Life by Alysha Hermann.

The full list of blogs:

Patricia Scheetz – Wishing for one more chance 
Rosemary Hughes – Yellow Eyes
Alysha Hermann - One Life
Alison Austin – Donate Life
Lauren Sherritt – Make Your Wish Count
Deb Robertson – Make Your Wish Count (a chat about something that is difficult to talk about)
Beth Green – Seeing Organ and Tissue Donation in a different light
Paul Mclean – The Twilight Zone
Gary from Being Gawee – DonateLife Week
Julie Green – Organ Donation and the Dog: Starting the Conversation
Amanda Smyth – A letter to my babies about organ donation
Stacey McKee - Suddenly I see


 The winning filmmaker Brooke Huuskes will be on Dr Sally Cockburn's radio program on 3AW at 6.30 tonight, so listen in!

Donate Life Week 2013

Today heralds the beginning of DonateLife  Week 2013

It just so happens that this has been the most significant one for me as I'm still in hospital recovering from my bilateral lung transplant.


I'm not going to lie. It's been the most difficult challenge of my entire life, and I still have a very long way to go towards recovery (probably twelve months).


A I am ever so grateful to the beautiful family who donated lungs so that I now have the chance at a new life

Today also marks the beginning of the Life Flashes exhibition. All of the photos are on display in the corridor between the courtyard and the carpark at the Alfred Hospital.

Winners will be announced officially next Sunday at the DonateLife Event in Lygon St.

A huge thankyou to everyone who entered.

Please enjoy the beautiful heart mosaics from our instagram challenge last month!

FilmLife 2013

You may remember the FilmLife Project from last year.  It's all about getting young filmmakers involved in capturing stories about organ donation and transplantation on film.



Last year, the workshop was only held in Sydney, but this year, they're expanding to include Melbourne too. So, if you know any young filmmakers between the ages of 16 and 28 who might be interested in a free weekend of filmmaking workshops, get them to sign up .




It's a great opportunity to learn from industry experts!

This year, there is also another FilmLife Blog Competition, with the winning blog receiving a $250 cash prize!


It's really simple to enter (details below from the FilmLife page)

'Make Your Wish Count - Discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation'.

Just follow these simple steps:

1.    Write a 300-800 word blog post inspired by the theme of DonateLife week 2013
2.    Ensure you’ve included the tagline “make your wish count”
3.    Post it on your blog page and include the FilmLife blog comp banner and button (see how below)
4.    If you don’t have your own blog site – let us know and we’ll post it at www.filmlife.com.au
5.    Submit the link to your blog to blog@filmlife.com.au
6.    Entries close midnight Friday February 22nd 2013
7.    Share your blog on twitter by using #havethechat (we will share it too!)
8.    Unsure about any of the steps contact us at blog@filmlife.com.au

The winning blogger will be announced March 1 during DonateLife Week 2013.

Our wonderful judging panel will review and judge each blog based on it’s creative, passionate and positive content that encourages all Australians to have a conversation about organ and tissue donation. Originality is a must, so dust out the writers block and get down and dirty with your keyboard – and if your blog is judged the best, you could win $250!

For more information about organ and tissue donation in Australia to help you with your blog visit www.donatelife.gov.au.







..... and guess what?

I'm totally chuffed to have been asked to be one of the judges for the blogging competition, along with Professional Writer Peta Murray.

Peta and myself both have little Q&A's where you can read more about what we'll be looking for in the judging.

Image courtesy

If you're not a filmaker, or a blogger, then there's still a way you can get involved. 

Creativity Can... is all about getting involved to make a change. Just take a snap and email it in - all the details are here.

If you've made it through all of that info - congratulations! Any questions, please ask away!

Life Flashes - FMS Day 3 Heart

Heart by Melbourne Epicure

Can I just say one word - WOW!

Yesterday's photo a day challenge on Instagram was amazing.

We had over 170 people post a photo of a heart and hashtag it with #LifeFlashes to promote organ and tissue donation awareness and DonateLife Week 2013.

I'm in the process of obtaining individual permission to use each photo in a large mosaic for the Life Flashes Exhibition. So far, I have 138 photos that I can use which is absolutely fantastic.

Once everything is completed, I'll be instagramming and blogging the photo mosaics so that everyone gets to see the beautiful finished product!

There are also some beautiful photos that have been submitted in the Facebook competition so far. The top ten will be printed onto large canvasses and displayed in the exhibition. Please go and check out the entries, and even enter your own photo!

All the details for the FB comp are right here (and you don't need to be on FB to enter, as you just email your entry to Louisa, our HLTTV Membership Officer)


If you're interested in learning a little about what it's like to be on the transplant list, then ABC2 is screening the BBC documentary Love On The Transplant List Saturday night at 8.30 PM.

 

A huge thankyou to Carly for putting me in touch with Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim and a giant thankyou to each and every person who submitted a heart. It means the world!