SPEAK NOW, a new Irish short written and directed by Dermot Malone and produced by Banjoman and Elk Films, has been released online. The film, which sees Conal Keating come out of acting retirement, asks us, the viewers, to discuss organ donation with our next of kin.
Now, we are all organ donors and we actually have to opt out rather than opt in, but the big problem still exists. After we die, next of kin can refuse to serve as an organ donor. Because of this, people who need vital life-saving organs do not have a chance to live. This film promotes the idea of speaking now so that our next of kin know what we want if something happens to us.
This film was born out of my personal connection to this issue. Elk Films producer Niamh Brannigan was inspired to tackle the issue after her father is on the organ donor list. Dermot and Niamh are old friends and decided to create something that would address this challenge. One in three family members do not donate organs because the wishes of the deceased's relatives are unclear.
