Perfect Strangers

Educational & Institutional Screenings & Sales

The producer of Perfect Strangers is partnering with GOOD DOCS on educational distribution. This award-winning documentary is now available for rentals, DVD and streaming sales to institutions:

• Universities, four-year colleges and community colleges
• High schools
• Nonprofits and community groups
• Hospitals and medical schools
• For-profits/corporations

Please visit this website for more details about buying or renting the film, or contact the GOOD DOCS team: outreach@gooddocs.net

FAQs

Can I buy this film on home video DVD and show it to my class or group?
No, if you want to use this film for any kind of institutional, classroom, group or public screening, please purchase it from GOOD DOCS. For personal use only, you can purchase a DVD through the “Home Video DVD Sales” tab on the left.

How can I have a screening of Perfect Strangers?
In order to screen a film at an educational institution, public performance rights (PPR) must be secured. PPR permits screenings in a classroom or library when no admission is charged. Those rights can be purchased for a limited time (14 days) or permanently (perpetual streaming or DVD). There are different prices for internal screenings (for use in a class) or public screenings (open to the general public).

How can I secure public performance rights for Perfect Strangers?
The filmmaker is working with GOOD DOCS to handle rentals and sales to educational institutions. You can learn more details here.

Can I buy a DVD for educational distribution?
Yes, you can purchase it here.

Do you accept Purchase Orders (PO)?
Yes. You can fill out the form here or please contact outreach@gooddocs.net for more information.

How can I invite the producer/director, Jan Krawitz, to speak at a screening of Perfect Strangers?
Contact education@gooddocs.net to book a talk, or fill out this form.

Home Video Sales

For home video DVD purchase, use the “Buy Now” link to place an order for $10.00 (plus $4.00 postage/handling).

For home video international orders outside the U.S., please email krawitz@stanford.edu for shipping costs.

All films, videos, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs are protected by United States copyright law. Duplication, reproduction, alteration, subleasing, television (broadcast, cable or close circuit) or commercial use (i.e., charging admission) is strictly prohibited without written consent from Jan Krawitz.

Broadcasts

America ReFramed, PBS national series

Press Quotes

 “Perfect Strangers is a stunning piece about love in ways that I’ve never imagined. Her characters jump off the screen into your hearts. Her storytelling simplicity is inundated with complex issues of some of life’s most challenging issues. Remarkable film, remarkable filmmaker.”
– Allan Holzman, Emmy and Peabody Award Winning Director

“It’s a fascinating journey with amazing footage….tense and touching moments.”
– Kathryn Eastburn, Colorado NPR

“The film tells the story beautifully from both the transplant and the donor perspective. It accurately conveys the emotional highs and lows of both parties and leaves you wondering how you could help a stranger in need.”
– Laura Frnka-Davis, LifeGift, Fort Worth

“A haunting portrayal of how an altruistic person comes to grips with the true meaning of charity; anonymous, selfless and with the faith that each one of us has the power to change at least one life and, by extension, the world.”
– A.H., living kidney donor

Reviews

Educational Media Reviews Online
Video Librarian
Library Journal
KRCC
From the Heart Productions
theindependentcritic.com
Valley News
Clayman Institute for Gender Studies

Characters

Ellie is a massage therapist who lives on the central coast of California. After meeting a young woman in the early stages of kidney disease, she was inspired to learn more. Her curiosity led her to a website where potential donors and recipients can meet. After becoming aware of the tremendous need for organ donors, Ellie decided to donate to a perfect stranger. The film picks up her story at this juncture.

Kathy lives with her husband Jim in northern California, 500 miles from Ellie’s home. She experienced the early stages of kidney failure in her twenties. After starting dialysis and getting placed on a kidney waitlist, she began to look for a living donor. Hoping to accelerate the seven years that she would likely spend waiting for a kidney from a deceased donor, she posted her profile on matchingdonors.com. 

Director’s Statement

I met Ellie in the early days of her exploration into donating a kidney to someone in need. Articulate, insightful, and irreverent, she is an ideal protagonist for this experiential, character-driven film. From the outset, I was granted unprecedented access to Ellie and Kathy’s lives as the three of us embarked on an unpredictable journey spanning several years. The film reveals the physical and emotional terrain of organ donation through an intimate portrayal of the process.

Perfect Strangers is ultimately a study of the human condition, specifically focused on what motivates an individual towards an extreme act of compassion. Filmed over four years, the longitudinal approach to the narrative accommodates the uncertainty of the outcome for both Ellie and Kathy. Organ donation from a deceased donor is held in high regard and many blithely affix the “pink dot” to their driver’s license. But altruistic organ donation, situated on the outer edge of the “giving” continuum, can elicit suspicion and hostility. Why do we feel threatened by the idea of such an extraordinary gift?

As the population ages, the waitlist for a deceased donor kidney grows longer. There are now more than 102,000 people on that list. Organ donation from living donors can significantly increase the supply but many people feel discomfited by the idea. Through the prism of one kidney’s journey, Perfect Strangers confronts thorny philosophical and ethical questions about altruism and acts of compassion.

Credits

Producer, Director, Editor – Jan Krawitz
Cinematographers – Charlene Music, Mike Seely
Additional Camera – John Kane, Melanie Levy, Ryan Malloy, Theo Rigby
Music – Max Avery Lichtenstein

Funding:
The Fledgling Fund
Ruth Levison Halperin Fund
Lucius & Eva Eastman Fund

Contact

Jan Krawitz is available for speaking engagements with her films at conferences and universities. She also conducts master classes and presents public talks about documentary film as a Visiting Filmmaker.

Jan Krawitz
Department of Art & Art History, 355 Roth Way
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-2018

krawitz@stanford.edu
www.jankrawitz.com