Kathy’s Story – Part 1
65_RedRoses is Eva’s story, but we know there are thousands of other transplant recipients with compelling stories to share as well. One such recipient is Kathy Meier, who received a double-lung transplant just over two years ago. She is doing well, and got in touch to share her story of living with CF and receiving her new set of lungs. Do you have a story? Contact us at outreach@65redroses.com
65_RedRoses: How did you hear about the film?
Kathy Meier: While I was waiting for transplant there was always people around talking about different stories and Eva’s name came up. One day when I was feeling up to going on the computer I decided to check out her blog, and from that day on she always had a place in my heart. (more…)
Big Things Happening In 2012!
Happy New Year to all the supporters of 65_RedRoses, friends of Eva, and folks everywhere living with CF! 2011 was a wonderful year of sharing Eva’s story and raising awareness about organ donation, but we’re excited that 2012 will be even bigger. We launched our new site design last week, and we hope you like it.
We’re getting closer to announcing the date of the 65_RedRoses premiere on Oprah Winfrey Network, but we can tell you right now that it will be happening in the Spring! On the Hello Cool World store, Canadian supporters can pre-order the new version of the DVD (with an updated ending, French subtitles, and interviews with the directors), which will be released in February. You can also order other 65_RedRoses merchandise from the store. All proceeds go back into the campaign for the film and Eva’s movement for organ donation.
For American supporters, we know you are eager to see and share Eva’s story. While the DVD is not available for sale in the US yet, you can organize a community screening. Please contact us for details! And be sure to check back here, as well as Facebook and Twitter, because we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as the DVD is available in the US. For the fastest updates, sign up to our mail list! (more…)
Watch Director Nimisha Mukerji speaking online about the film and the campaign
Before Eva died, she collaborated with Cyrus McEachern to do a series of stunning photos which are part of her legacy and the campaign for Organ Donation and CF Awareness. You can see the photos that the filmmakers are using on this site. Eva and Cyrus also collaborated to do a series of photos for BC Transplant, that featured also other people who had received transplants. That campaign was rolled out last spring as the “Live Life. Pass it On. Campaign. (more…)
BC Woman Embarks on Cross-Canada Tour
Kirstin Whitford launches 65_RedRoses, 65 Cities, 65 Days in memory of Eva and her late husband who both lost the battle to CF.
This past Saturday, August 20th Kristin Whitford of Powell River, B.C. commenced a cross-Canada road trip with a mission: to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis (CF) and the need for organ donation. (more…)
Painting 65 Red Roses
Hello wonderful people out there!
This post is about the 65_RedRoses painting inspired by Eva, which has found its home in the main lobby of BC Children’s Hospital!!! At the unveiling celebrations Eva’s Dad told me that when Eva was little they had to be at BC Children’s Hospital often, and to pass the time they wandered through the hallways playing Eye Spy. Her mom, who spoke on behalf of the family at the event, said that it warms their hearts to know that the painting will bring joy to the challenging times children and their families might spend at the hospital.
One Year Ago…
…we lost our Eva.
Today we remember her and the incredible love she shared with the world.
Please read the article that ran in The Vancouver Sun, submitted by Martina Meckova. One Year Since
This past month, Janet Brine (Eva’s mother) was invited to speak at Share the Beat, an annual event run by James Redford in San Francisco. In the year since her passing, Eva’s parents Janet and Bill with her siblings Annie and Hunter have dedicated their time and efforts to increasing organ donor registration worldwide as well as raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis research.
Janet & Bill with James Redford
Janet sent us this message about speaking at Share the Beat earlier this month:
Share the Beat-San Francisco served to raise awareness for organ donation and the need to keep the spotlight focused by highlighting the wonderful results that transplant brings to those in need. Organ recipients who honoured their donours, donour families who spoke of the legacy of life given by their loved ones, and many great musicians who payed tribute to the cause of organ donation took to the stage at the Regency Centre on March 11.
I [Janet Brine, mother of Eva Markvoort (65_RedRoses)] spoke at Share the Beat and presented the story of the gift of life that Eva experienced. Transplant gave Eva hope and it was this hope that kept her going until her call for transplant came. She was able to live a spirited and rich life for two years after her transplant, before succumbing to organ rejection. Those two wonderful years were made possible because a family, in their grief, saw the possibility of renewing the lives of others. Ultimately, the goal is for all Canadians and Americans to be organ donors, but until that time comes, events such as Share the Beat will continue. For more photos and information about this annual event, please click here
Janet speaks about Eva at Share the Beat
Many thanks to Janet for sending us this update.
Our thoughts and love are with all of Eva’s family and friends.
We miss her every day.
Love, love, love
Nimisha & Phil
Keeping the beat alive with Dan Mangan and James Redford!
(Vancouver, BC) On Friday, February 11th, the first ever 65_RedRoses Benefit Concert was held in honour and celebration of Eva Markvoort. The event took place at Massey Theatre in New Westminster and raised over $37,000 for cystic fibrosis research. The evening was a moving experience for all, an incredible celebration of Eva’s life and her ongoing legacy of raising funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis research and organ donation, and of Vancouver’s music scene.
The concert featured four outstanding artists: David Vertesi, the Zolas, Hannah Georgas and Dan Mangan, who played to a sold out crowd of over 1,200, including family, friends and fans of both Eva and the musicians. A special short film called A Wish Where the Wind Once Blew, directed by Stuart Gillies, was created as a tribute to Eva and premiered at the event.
When informed of the funds raised, Dan was thrilled. Said Mangan, “I’m so pleased the night was such a success! Together this crew of people raised a bunch of money for CF and what’s equally important, the stack of organ donor registration cards was completely gone by the end of the night.”
Philip Lyall, Co-Director of the 65_RedRoses film, who along with Rachel Aberle (one of Eva’s bestest friends) was the MC of the event, had this to say: “It was such a thrill to host the 65_RedRoses Benefit Concert. The room was filled with such a powerful energy from cheers to tears…it was like Eva was orchestrating the event herself.”
The event was hosted by CF Canada and all of the artists donated their time. The Massey Theatre provided the venue at no charge.
Next up: Share the Beat on March 11th. Created by James Redford, the annual fundraising concert held in San Francisco benefits The American Society of Transplantation and the Redford AnimAction Project, which raises awareness for organ donation.
“We take Share the Beat on the road to a different city each year in order to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation,” states Redford. “More than 100,000 people are currently on the waiting list for a transplant, and each day, 19 people die waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.”
The evening will feature musical appearances from Alex Band (The Calling), whose song “Wherever You Will Go” topped Billboard magazine’s Best of the Decade Adult Top 40 Songs in 2009, as well as Grammy-nominated songwriter Greg Barnhill, whose songs have been embraced by artists including Etta James, Martina McBride, Jessica Simpson and Chicago. Up-and-coming artists Chris Pierce and Shasta Baca will also take the stage.
“I have been personally affected by our country’s dire need for organ donors,” states Alex Band. “There is so much we can do to raise awareness for this cause, and I won’t stop until the job is done. It only takes a few minutes to register to become a donor, and you can wind up saving the lives of many.”
Throughout the night, several people who have been affected by the power of transplantation will share their personal stories, including James Redford, who received a life-saving liver transplant in 1993, and Janet Brine (Eva’s mother) who will talk about Eva’s enduring legacy. Janet will open up about Eva’s life, family and experiences, including undergoing a lung transplant and her subsequent transplant rejection in the Oprah Winfrey Network Documentary Film Club selection 65_RedRoses.
To purchase tickets for this incredible event please visit: www.sharethebeat.org
Love, love,love,
Nimisha & Phil
Directors “65_RedRoses”
Happy Holidays!
Eva loved Christmas! She loved searching for the perfect tree, making hand made cards and gifts, and singing Christmas carols. Even though she was struggling with chronic rejection at this time last year, she still gathered all her family and friends around her bed at home, and hosted an online fundraising event for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. See the video here!
Her approach to life was that if you’re ever feeling sad or down the best solution is to do something nice for someone else. A simple, but powerful lesson that stays with us even now.
So in the spirit of celebrating life, love and friendship, we want to thank you all for your continued support of Eva’s movement for organ donation and CF awareness. If you’re searching for a new year’s resolution we hope you will consider registering to become an organ donor, or encourage others to do so. If you’re looking for a worthy charity please donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Canada or America. They have a number of events going on throughout the year, and in Eva’s hometown there is going to be an amazing benefit concert on February 11th featuring Dan Mangan (For Tickets and Information Click Here!)
Eva made every breath count, and we’re going to make every screening, every dvd sale and every broadcast of 65_RedRoses count. 2011 is going to be an amazing year, as Eva reaches American audiences for the first time on the Oprah Winfrey Network and shares her message of hope.
We wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and look forward to sharing more updates with you in the new year! Thanks for all the love.
Nimisha and Phil
Directors of 65_RedRoses
SHARE THE BEAT!
Hi Everyone! It’s Phil Lyall here, co-director of 65_RedRoses, writing you from Toronto!
2011 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for 65_RedRoses. On top of the Oprah announcement, I wanted to share some developing news regarding the films outreach in the fundraising community.
I recently spoke with Jamie Redford (son of Robert Redford) who is Founder and President of The James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness (JRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the need for organ and tissue donation through film, educational outreach and the web. Jamie founded the organization in 1995, two years after receiving a liver transplant. He recently watched 65_RedRoses with his wife and was deeply moved by Eva and her story. It obviously brought him back to his own experiences waiting for transplant. One powerful moment that stuck out to him was the scene where Eva is about to go under for surgery and she whispers “I love everyone so much”. He remembers being in that exact moment and thinking this may be his last breath. He might never wake up again and that shook Mr. Redford to the core.
Jamie and Eva share an obvious link because they are organ recipients but they also encountered organ failure . A week after Jamie received a new liver, it began to fail and the doctors put him back on the list for a second transplant. Like Eva, he went back to the organ donation waiting game, getting sicker every day and feeling like “the clock was really ticking”. Miraculously, another donor was found and, this time, the transplant was a complete success. Inspired by his life-saving transplant, he produced an award-winning HBO documentary, The Kindness of Strangers (1998), that integrated the stories of transplant recipients and the families of the organ donors who lost their loved ones. Even though Eva never received her second transplant, she always said that the two years she was given to live “fully” with her new lungs was the greatest gift she had ever received. Now that Eva is gone, her legacy and her message of organ donation awareness lives on and Jamie is eager to spread her voice and influence to further audiences.
Jamie has invited 65_RedRoses to be part of an event called “Share the Beat”. It benefits the American Society of Transplantation (AST) - www.a-s-t.org and the Redford Animaction Project: It’s a RAP! www.redfordanimactionproject.com. It is an evening that celebrates the hope in transplantation by using the power of music and storytelling to raise awareness and funds for the transplant community. Clips from 65_RedRoses will be screened at the event (along with a few other films) as well as a speaker close to Eva’s story will be in attendance.
The event is in early 2011 in San Francisco. Tickets and scheduled date will be announced in the next few months. If you are interested in attending the event and supporting transplant awareness please bookmark this site and check in regularly for updates:
As well, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any further developments regarding “Share the Beat”.
Thank you Jamie for your incredible on-going efforts in spreading transplantation awareness and thank you for including 65_RedRoses to help further the cause in the US!
All the best everyone!
Phil ;)
Lives Lived
Hello Friends!
Eva’s parents wrote a wonderful piece that was published in The Globe and Mail a few weeks ago. For anyone who missed it, here it is: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts
It’s been a crazy few weeks with the Vancouver International Film Festival going on in the city. VIFF dedicated one of it’s screenings this year in memory of Eva, which was wonderful because the film they chose was co-edited by Justin Cousineau, Eva’s boyfriend who also worked on 65_RedRoses. The documentary, called Leave Them Laughing, recently won an award at the Hot Docs International Film Festival, and it was voted Most Popular Canadian Documentary at VIFF (we won last year in the same category, as well as taking home the Audience Choice for Best Canadian Feature). As it turns out Leave Them Laughing was directed by John Zaritsky, who taught Phil and I at UBC. He was one of the first people to encourage us to make 65_RedRoses, so it was a special evening getting to see his film, and have the screening dedicated to Eva. I have no doubts that Eva would have absolutely loved Carla (who is the main subject of the documentary and who passed away this year from ALS). I know Eva saw bits of the film while it was in the rough cut stage, and the finished documentary is one you don’t want to miss.
65_RedRoses is being broadcast in Canada (the full version) on November 16th at 9pm on Knowledge. For scheduling details please visit: http://www.knowledge.ca/schedule/2010-11-15
I’ve been working on a small video with Justin that is going to be played at the upcoming CF Gala here in Vancouver. For those of you that want to make a financial donation to a worthy cause please consider the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Their researchers are doing amazing work and are leading the race to find a cure for CF. To make a donation just visit our homepage and click on “download to donate to CF,” and you’ll get a free song written by singer/songwriter Shani Banerjee for Eva.
Can’t wait to tell everyone more about the American broadcast we have coming up in the new year! We just sent off a new cut of the film and are waiting back for notes. We have incorporated new interview footage and videos of Eva and her family. The ending is completely different.
Just two weeks left for the Geminis!
Love, love, love,
Nimisha
