Kerrie Noonan with Josephine Lie

After all the excitement of the FilmLife Official Screening and announcements of Best Film, Best Use of Theme, Honourable Mention and finally the People’s Choice Award for DonateLife Week, we wrangled a moment with Best Film winner Josephine Lie, Director of Ask The Hard Questions.

Tell us about yourself.

I am a 24 year old designer, illustrator and now filmmaker (I suppose) based in Sydney. I am a Christian, have a lovely family, and hold many interests including listening to live music, travelling to foreign lands, and storytelling through creative mediums.

Why FilmLife? How did you find us and why did you decide to submit an entry?

The FilmLife competition was stumbled across on the SBS Documentary blog. It so happened that I was in WA at this time, and that my friend’s father (Roger from the film) happened to be staying the in the same household. I also happened to have my camera on me, and Roger happened to be so gracious in taking part. Coincidence? I think not.

No, this isn’t my first film piece. I’ve been making videos for just under a year now, and would count FilmLife as being my fourth project. I hold a particular fascination with documentary style film, and am still very much exploring editing and audio techniques. While I’ve only been making videos for one year now, the capacity for the video medium to engage with a wide audience is certainly an intriguing one!

Why do you think Donald Duck doesn’t wear pants?

Ah, a tricky one. I feel Donald Duck has the desire…no… a life calling to dance. The world would be a poorer place without his showmanship. Pants would just hold him back. This can be summarised by the phrase; ‘no pants means more dance’.

Tell us about Roger Lee who is featured in your film. 

Roger is husband and father of two daughters, one of whom is a friend of mine. He also loves to fish and is one incredible chef. A while ago Roger was diagnosed with a rare respiratory disease which essentially meant that without a double-lung transplant a painful and slow death was the reality. Faced with this reality, his family braced for what seemed inevitable. However in April last year, Roger received two healthy lungs from a donor, and with that was given another chance at life.

What’s your opinion of organ donation, and have you had the conversation with your family?

For me the decision to register as an organ and tissue donor was a simple one. By registering and discussing this decision with my family, I may potentially be giving another person and their family a lifeline. Having spent time with Roger and his family, the impacts a single donor can have on a family are not lost on me and are well worth having that hard conversation.

Do you blog, or tweet – if so, tell us how to find you online.

However having mentioned my interest in storytelling, I would be thrilled if you checked out another recent film project I launched last year. An interactive documentary entitled ‘Merapi: Stories from the Volcano’ (www.merapistories.com). More of my designs and creative projects can also be found in my online portfolio (www.cargocollective.com/josephinelie).

Thanks to ALL our amazing filmmakers, their cast and crews, for telling the stories of redemption and loss around organ donation with such thoughtfulness and sensitivity.

Special thanks to our transplant families who came forward to share their experiences, to our prize sponsors Ryda dot Com and Videocraft, to our good friends at Sydney Film Festival and Transplant Australia for helping us get the word out, to our partners at The GroundSwell Project, Information + Cultural Exchange (ICE) and Nepean Intensive Care Unit, and of course to the Organ and Tissue Authority who funded the project as part of DonateLife Week 2012.

Over 100 people gathered last night at Information and Cultural Exchange in Parramatta for the FilmLife Festival. The theme of the night was all about having conversations for DonateLife Week – ‘ask and know your loved ones organ and tissue donation wishes’

Congratulations to ALL of our filmmakers, it was fabulous to see your films on the big screen and to hear the audience respond.

FilmLife judges Paul Cox, Ana Tiwary and Dr Jonathon Gillis the National Medical Director at DonateLife Australia had the task of awarding the Best Film and Best use of Theme categories.

Winner Best Film – Josephine Lie, for ‘Ask the Hard Questions’ is a piece that playfully approaches the issue of organ and tissue donation through a curious exploration of some of life’s more peculiar questions.

Winner Best interpretation of the Theme for DonateLife Week 2012 is ‘Superheroes’ by ‘Natasha Akib

‘A young boy talks about his favourite superhero’.

Judges also awarded an honorable mention to Jess Sparks for her film One Life, One Decision.

Now it’s your turn – voting is open on Facebook for the Nepean Intensive Care Unit People’s Choice Award.

Thanks to partners The GroundSwell Project,  Information and Cultural Exchange, Nepean Intensive Care Unit and Major Sponsor The Organ and Tissue Authority, and prize sponsors VideoCraft and Ryda dot Com. We would also like to thank Transplant Australia and ABC Pool for supporting the project.