Organizers of a documentary screening highlighting the urgent need for stem-cell donors say they hope the film inspires more people to register and give. The Perfect Match was screened Thursday at MacEwan University’s Triffo Theatre. Director Sandro Silva said he was motivated to make the film by an Edmonton father’s quest to find a stem-cell donor for his son. Silva said he was contacted four years ago about potentially donating to help Ezra Marfo, who was two years old at the time and had been battling acute myeloid leukemia for more than a year. However, Silva was unable to donate because he was older than 35. A few weeks later, Silva received a letter informing him that Ezra had died, along with a phone number for the boy’s father, Jacob. “I contacted the father, and then moving forward, I suggested (to) put the word out there,” Silva told reporters. That effort became The Perfect Match, which premiered earlier this year at Edmonton’s Metro Cinema during the Northwest Film Fest. The hour-long documentary features families and stem-cell transplant survivors whose experiences underscore the need for more diverse stem-cell donors, particularly within Black communities. One screening organizer said they hope the film’s message “moves people to sign up,” noting that a larger donor registry is needed for Black Canadians. Just two per cent of registered stem-cell donors come from African, Caribbean and Black communities. “Sometimes it’s a hard match to find because you want to try to find a match within your family, but only 25 per cent are usually a match,” said Jasmine Vallarta, business development manager with Canadian Blood Services, which presented Thursday’s screening with the Ezra Marfo Cancer Foundation. “So it’s going out to the greater community, and it highlights that we need that diversity.” Silva said the documentary will be available to stream on Telus Optik early next year. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch
