The ‘Get Me to 21’ documentary honouring Jenna Lowe’s life has won an International Film Festival award in Toronto, Canada.
South Africa (24 June 2024) – Last year, the ‘Get Me to 21’ documentary honouring Jenna Lowe’s life made its world premiere, and since then, the inspiring documentary has earned an award in Toronto.
‘Get Me to 21 – The Jenna Lowe Story’ was directed by Diana Lucas and edited by Mary Berry. The documentary recently earned the Best Feature Film Documentary at the Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival 2024.
“We are thrilled to announce that ‘Get Me To 21:The Jenna Lowe Story’ won Best Feature Film documentary in the qualifying Toronto Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival 2024.” – Kirsti Lowe
Jenna Lowe’s Story
In 2014, two years ahead of her 21st birthday, Cape Town teen Jenna Lowe, a pulmonary hypertension (PH) patient, launched the #GetMeTo21 campaign to raise awareness about the rare, life-threatening disease and to drive organ donation in South Africa.
The campaign raised awareness of the poorly understood, often misdiagnosed disease, and would gain international acclaim and win awards. Tragically, it could not save Jenna, who passed away three months before her milestone birthday. Her campaign lives on today, honouring her memory and has seen the founding of a trust in her name and a clinic specialising in pulmonary hypertension.
Jenna’s family started the Jenna Lowe Trust in her memory. It helped to establish The Jenna Lowe PH Clinic at Groote Schuur Academic Hospital, which currently supports around 600 PH patients because earlier diagnosis means a better quality of life.
The Trust created a compelling 90-minute documentary that looks back on Jenna’s life, honours her legacy, and examines how her story touched people across the world. This moving documentary features footage and interviews with many of Jenna’s friends, doctors, and family, including Jenna’s mother Gabi who chronicled her daughter’s heroic battle with a rare medical condition in her best-selling memoir ‘Get Me to 21’.
You can find the trailer below. The documentary is available for South Africans to stream on Showmax.
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