Director: Nimisha Mukerji

Production: 2015, English, Hindi & Gujrati with English & Dari Subtitle, 73 min, Canada

Camera: Mark Ratzlaff/Script Writer: Nimisha Mukerji/Editor: Mark Ratzlaff

 

Synopsis:
Blood Relative follows the remarkable story of Indian activist Vinay Shetty, who is fighting to save children who are dying from the blood disease Thalassemia. As a result of not being able to afford the life-saving medication, fourteen year old Divya and twenty-four year old Imran have severely stunted growth and remain trapped in the bodies of children. Chronicling Vinay’s battle to get Divya and Imran free medical treatment, the film gets unprecedented access into modern India’s broken healthcare system. Caught in the middle are Vinay and the children he must look after who are bound together by ties stronger than blood.

Director’s Biography:
Nimisha Mukerji is an award-winning director, Nimisha’s debut feature 65_RedRoses was one of the first official selections for Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary Club on OWN. Distributed by PBS International and Ro*co the film is available on Netflix, iTunes and Hulu. Working with the Canadian distributor of the film, Hellocoolworld, and subject Eva Markvoort, Nimisha helped create a 65_RedRoses outreach campaign to increase organ donor rates across Canada and the US. As a result organ donation rates tripled in British Columbia after the film aired on CBC’s The Passionate Eye. Nimisha’s second documentary Blood Relative screened in competition at Hot Docs ’13, and won audience awards in Vancouver, New York, and :aris (as well as 3 Canadian Screen Award nominations).