Mixed Match

Director Jeff Chiba Stearns, a Canadian filmmaker of European and Japanese descent, serves up a lively look at a serious topic: bone marrow and stem cell transplants for people of mixed race. Stearns interviews researchers, patients, and donors, but spends most of his time with Athena Asklipiadis, who encourages mixed-race individuals to add their names to donor registries. Asklipiadis—who has Japanese and Greek heritage—lost an aunt who was unable to find a match in time. She was inspired to form the organization Mixed Marrow by cases such as baseball player Rod Carew's unsuccessful attempt to find a match for his daughter, Michelle, and Krissy Kobata, who has been looking for a match for nine years. After meeting Asklipiadis, Stearns added his own name to the Canadian bone marrow registry. Although the registry is a start, 50% of matches decline to follow through with their pledge, but given that a successful match has one in a million odds, the more names the better. Stearns also speaks with Alex Tung and Imani Cornelius, who seek bone marrow transplants. If Cornelius doesn't find a match, her myelodysplastic syndrome could lead to leukemia, and Tung needs cord blood in order to have a chance at beating cancer. Valerie Sun, another subject, finds only a partial match, but has to take a range of medications that have caused additional problems, confirming the importance of a perfect match. As Dr. Eneida Nemecek points out, "Race is a part of medicine." Presented in both a full-length version and a 56-minute abridged edition, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)