Entertainment / Award-winning Documentary Blood Relative Premieres At Hot Docs

Award-winning Documentary Blood Relative Premieres At Hot Docs

Entertainment May 16, 2013

by Anokhi Admin

Shotglass Productions in association with The Knowledge Network present the Toronto premiere of Nimisha Mukerji’s award-winning documentary Blood Relative at Hot Docs on Monday, April 29 (9:00pm), Wednesday, May 1 (3:30pm) and Friday, May 3 (1:00pm). Mukerji’s first feature, the multi-award winning 65_RedRoses (Top Ten Audience Favourite: Hot Docs 2009) will screen at Bloor Cinema on Tuesday, April 9 (6:30pm) as part of a special Hot Docs 20 series celebrating some of the best documentaries to screen at the Festival over the past 20 years.

Blood Relative follows the remarkable story of Vinay Shetty, a fast-talking activist and unapologetic atheist from Mumbai fighting to save two young adults who are dying from Thalassemia, a genetic blood disease that has become a national epidemic in India. Suffering stunted growth and without access to medication, they remain trapped in the bodies of children making it difficult for them to realize their adult dreams. Filmed in high definition, Blood Relative exposes modern India’s broken healthcare system while revealing that India’s heroes aren’t just in Bollywood.

Indian activist Vinay Shetty of Mumbai, India

For fourteen-year old Divya and twenty-four year old Imran, weekly blood transfusions become an accepted way of life. However, a fatal side effect from the transfusions is a build up of iron, which results in the death of Thalassemic children in their early teens. There is medication available on the Indian market to remove the iron, but for lower income families the cost remains unreachable.

To ensure that children like Divya and Imran do not continue to live a life of shame and seclusion, Vinay has spent the past five years lobbying India’s Health Minister to provide free testing and medication to the general public. Vinay’s proposal has finally reached the highest levels of the administration, and if the Health Minister decides to approve it, Vinay will have made medical history by getting all patients in Mumbai treatment for free. Can Vinay, who has given up a family of his own to be a father to Thalassemic children, break through India’s healthcare system and its culture of shame in time to save Divya and Imran’s life?

Blood Relative is written and directed by Nimisha Mukerji. Produced by Shotglass Productions in association with The Knowledge Network.

Blood Relative had its world premiere at the 2012 Vancouver International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary.

Be sure to check it out at the Doc Hocs Film Festival!

^{Photo & release courtesy of

Jive Communications}

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Award-winning Documentary Blood Relative Premieres At Hot Docs

by Anokhi Admin

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