Interview by Greg Carlson
“The Power of Two,” the honorable mention recipient in the documentary feature category of the 2012 Fargo Film Festival, will be screened on Wednesday, March 7 at 10:30 a.m. (followed by a lunch panel) and 7 p.m.
Twins Ana and Isa Stenzel, along with producer Andrew Byrnes and director Marc Smolowitz, will be in Fargo for the events. Greg Carlson talked to the team about their experiences making the film.
GC: The book project was an undertaking by itself. At what point did the idea for a feature length documentary really germinate and move from thought into action?
Andrew Byrnes: Marc came up with the idea to make a documentary inspired by Isa and Ana’s memoir shortly before the twins were set to tour Japan in fall 2009 to support the publication of the Japanese version of their book. I knew Marc as an Academy Award-nominated documentarian through mutual philanthropic work in San Francisco. I approached him to inquire whether he knew of anyone in Japan who could film a few of Ana and Isa’s speeches during their 26 day, 10 city tour.
They had been rehearsing night and day to deliver in Japanese 19 speeches about cystic fibrosis and organ transplantation, which is rare and controversial in Japan. Marc was intrigued and asked to read their memoir. He quickly contacted us and said that he wanted to be the one to film the twins in Japan, and that not only would the story make a powerful documentary but could be the center of a global call to action around organ donation and cystic fibrosis awareness. Less than three months later we were in Japan for the first shoot of the film!
GC: Ana and Isa have always been together and Andrew entered the picture years ago. How did Marc become involved?
Marc Smolowitz: I fell in love with Ana and Isa as writers and as characters when I read their co-authored memoir. I see Ana and Isa as both ordinary and extraordinary women, which reminds us that we often see such humbling and familiar contrasts in our own lives. They are entirely approachable yet somehow also bigger than life. Ultimately, it is their twin bond that resonates on-screen with immense power — the kind that transcends boundaries of culture, race and nation.
I look forward to sharing Ana and Isa’s stories of survival with the world. I am quite sure that audiences will embrace them with the same openness and excitement that they themselves bring to every day. For me, it truly has been a highlight of my life and career to make this film. I have learned so much about what it means to be an advocate for something bigger than myself.
GC: The production spent significant time on the road to collect all the necessary footage. How many miles did you log? How did you balance the demands of the shoot with personal and professional lives?
AB: We logged lots of miles! We shot over 240 hours of footage in 27 cities in three countries. In terms of “balance” (quotes intentional), the project really became my baby, consuming lots of my waking hours outside of work. Because we were not just making a film but also building an offline and online community around the film and related causes, our task was particularly large. Thankfully we had a great team who understood the mission and worked really hard to accomplish our goals of completing the film and making a difference.
Isa Stenzel-Byrnes: I remained free from a paid job to make time for film shoots and production efforts. That being said, I certainly slacked off on some other projects as the film dominated our 2010! (Most of 2009 focused on the Japan tour and learning Japanese). Although Ana and I are “subjects” and Marc was the filmmaker, Ana and I remained very involved with efforts to coordinate community film shoots, raise funds, and recruit reputable interview subjects. So, the time demands were intense and it truly was a team effort.
Ana Stenzel: I don’t have an exact number of miles that we logged except to estimate that it was in the thousands, and we surely built up our frequent flier miles! Balancing our personal and professional lives was not easy. I am fortunate to have a very understanding boss and arranged for most of my travel on weekends.
My husband has been very supportive as I leave him frequently and spend more time on the computer than with him. In between film shoots, I was able to still take care of my health (a top priority) and spend time with family and friends. Fortunately, our lives post-transplant have afforded us great amounts of energy so that we can pack in a lot in 24 hours.
MS: The collaboration with Ana, Isa and Andrew was a remarkable experience, and everyone worked incredibly hard over the course of the 22 months it took to make the movie. The post-production phase was particularly intense, with myself, two editors, a music producer and music editor working with many others upward of 100/hours per week to get the film finished. As a filmmaker, I was so fortunate to have so many people at the top of their game on my creative team.
We were all heavily invested in making a successful film that would have a powerful impact on audiences. Everyone felt a strong connection to Ana and Isa’s story, and the other stories featured in the movie. Everyone who worked on the film pushed themselves to deliver their best work. I was incredibly proud of the productive way in which we all worked together. Long hours, for the love of the craft. Truly an inspiration for everyone involved.
GC: As you sorted through footage and assembled what would become the final version, what was the hardest scene to cut out?
MS: There were many scenes that were built that I loved that did not make it into the movie, and I hope they will find their way into DVD extras down the road. There is one scene that did not make it into the movie that was one of the first scenes we edited, and it was literally in the timeline in different places until about 36-48 hours before picture lock. It featured the twins at San Francisco Great Strides, an annual fundraising walk to raise money for CF. The scene featured an additional story line about a friend of Ana and Isa named Charlie Stockley, who had CF and died waiting for a transplant.
As we edited the movie, it became clear that this scene was more like a mini-documentary of its own that took viewers out of the movie. As much as I loved this scene, for the good of the movie, I made a very difficult to remove it. It was one of the toughest decisions I had to make while in post-production. I did not make it lightly, but in the end, I know I made the right decision. I think every filmmaker has a scene like this that he or she has to choose to get rid of in the context of a feature length film.
GC: Whether viewing alone or with an audience, which moment in the film provides you with the greatest thrill or sense of accomplishment?
ISB: My favorite scene in the movie is the opening, with the swimming at the National Kidney Foundation U.S. Transplant Games. It epitomizes the gift of transplant and the theme of the film: pure freedom, normalcy and health offered by transplantation. It also has nothing to do with sickness or my patient identity.
AB: As a producer, I am all about production value and giving something extraordinary and unexpected to the audience. So I love the particularly cinematic moments, especially the scene of the twins blowing bubbles on a bridge in Virginia to honor their organ donors. Also, I adore the soundtrack, which our music supervisor Nicole Dionne so brilliantly weaved throughout the story. Every time I see the film I’m still blown away by the music.
AS: I am most humbled when I see my donor family in the film. They are incredibly gracious people who literally saved my life – without them, none of this would be possible. I am so proud of their courage of being public with their story despite their emotional pain. I am proud to know such quality human beings, who gave to others unconditionally at the moment of personal tragedy and despair.
Personally, I am most proud when the film opens with the inscription stating the film is inspired by a memoir written by Anabel & Isabel Stenzel. We wrote the book ourselves, with little input from others so there is true ownership there. Without the book, the film would not have happened. We continue to receive positive feedback from readers, many of whom are touched by CF and find hope and guidance in our writing. Touching people’s lives and easing the burden of CF for others in our own small way is the most gratifying part of this journey.
MS: There is a scene in Japan where the twins are on a boat ride in Japan, reflecting on the relationship they have with their donors and how organ transplantation transcends boundaries of race. The scene comes out of a beautiful shot of balloons being released into the sky at the Green Ribbon Running Festival in Tokyo, and then it literally soars onward, taking the viewer on a kind of cinematic journey that allows time for reflection, introspection and rest.
For me, I wanted to pepper the film with these sorts of entirely cinematic movements, not something you often encounter in a documentary. In a film with many characters, many interviews, many intense screens, and many emotional moments, it was so important to allow audiences the time to literally BREATHE and appreciate their own breath. The entire film is edited like this, but this specific boat ride scene is for me when that approach works as a powerful coming together of theatricality and documentary.
GC: Can you describe the most memorable or surprising viewer response to the movie?
ISB: In Portland, a young woman with CF approached me, in tears and unable to collect herself. She finally shared how Ana and I were her “heroes” because she needed to believe things would be okay for her, and she needed to know there were others like her, struggling with the same disease.
AS: Through the power of outreach and the media, people from all walks of our lives have somehow heard of the film and come to see it. At our Washington DC premiere, a woman approached us, stating she was our babysitter when we were 5 years old! Clearly we didn’t remember her, but she read about a film about twins with CF in the paper and remembered us! That was a small, small world!
Another wonderful response I received from the film was from 2 separate people with cystic fibrosis who saw the film and were so moved by it. They both stated that they started to take better care of themselves and be more compliant with their medical regimen because of the film. To know that our story motivated our comrades to fight this challenging disease was truly gratifying.
MS: For me, it was very powerful to show the film in Tokyo at the Tokyo International Film Festival and have it so well received by Japanese audiences. At one of the Tokyo festival screenings, 3 people from the Japan section of the film were also in the audience – Mrs. Nakazawa, a mother/advocate who lost her baby while trying to go to the USA for him to receive a transplant; Mr. Tanaka, a donor father who lost his daughter and said yes to donation; and Taro Kono, a Japanese politician who led the charge to change the transplant law in Japan.
Having all three of them there was very powerful for me, and the fact that they all loved the movie and cheered for its success was the strongest validation I could ever ask for. It was so important for me to make a film that the Japanese could receive well, and in the case of these three people — who opted in to be interviewed and share their stories – delivering on their trust was paramount for me. That night in Tokyo, it all came together beautifully in every way.