Illness inspires award-winning student film

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Illness inspires award-winning student film
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By John Lewis on Tue, 11 Nov 2008

Spending about 15 hours a week hooked up to a dialysis machine, wondering if the next phone call will be the one offering a kidney transplant, is a testing life.

But for Logan Park High School pupil Henry McMullan, life on the transplant waiting list is more like a game.

The 17-year-old recently teamed up with Logan Park High School head boy Zac Wilkinson (18) to create a "doco-drama" about Henry's life, which has won first prize at the Otago Secondary Schools Film Festival.

Henry said had a transplant when he was 2 years old but the organ stopped working at the start of last year.

"It was really tough emotionally, and trying to go to school at the same time was really hard because I was in hospital for four hours every day getting dialysis."

Since then, Henry has learned to use the dialysis machine, which he operates from home.

"I do it for about four hours a day after school while I'm doing homework. I try not to let it stop me from doing things and living a 'normal' life."

Despite his daily challenges, he is confident and cheerful about the future.

He said the film was not sentimental - it celebrated a positive attitude and self-belief.

The film, Life's a Game, uses footage of the Logan Park High School boys' A basketball team as an analogy for life being like a game, with luck sometimes playing a significant role despite the best training and intentions.

Zac said the film took eight weeks to make.

The aim was to make an educational and informative film about dialysis presented in an original way.

"We wanted to make an awesome film that educates people without them knowing they are being educated. We're proud that we've succeeded in doing that. Winning is just a bonus."

Waikato University Screen and Media Studies lecturer Associate Professor Geoff Lealand and Treefrog Video Productions film-maker Craig Storey-Farquharson were impressed with the original concept and "hook" into the story.

They praised Zac and Henry's awareness of film technique and story-telling ability.

Ten films were entered in the competition.

Kings High School pupils Philip Everitt and Leighton Blair were second with Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?.

Logan Park High School pupils Alex Cox and Jeremy Thomson were third with Bloodspatter IV.

  http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/31261/illness-inspires-award-winning-student-film