Young filmmaker Josephine Lie's short film 'Ask the Hard Questions' has been selected as the winner of a national competition to create a film to raise awareness about organ donation.
The annual FilmLife project engages young creative people to think about and communicate issues around organ donation and transplants.
Lie's film poses a series of questions such as 'Do fish get thirsty?' and 'Why is it called a washing line and not a drying line?', finally encouraging viewers to ask one more question to their loved ones in regards to their organ donation wishes.
“The most important thing that helps a family uphold the donation decision of a loved one is knowing those wishes," says Lie.
"So I hope that 'Ask the Hard Questions' inspires many family discussions around Australia.”
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Lie was inspired to make the film after seeing the distress surrounding her friend's father double lung transplant. He received the transplant and he features in the closing scenes of the short film.
There are currently around 1,600 people on the Australian organ transplant waiting list, who can sometimes wait between six months and four years to receive a transplant.
One organ and tissue donor can change the lives of 10 or more people.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King, said “It is encouraging that 77 percent of Australians have now discussed their donation wishes with family members, and projects like the Film Life Project provide another opportunity for family conversations to take place.”
The FilmLife Project is funded by the Commonwealth Government through the Organ and Tissue Authority's Community Awareness Grants program and aims to encourage and support innovative projects that promote family discussion about organ and tissue donation.
This year the award was hosted by The Groundswell Project, a group that aims to develop innovative arts and health-based programs that instigate social change and new knowledge about the experience of illness, death, dying and bereavement in Australia.
The 'Ask the Hard Questions' community service announcement will be shown nationally in cinemas and on TV.
