Mixed Match
Mixed Match is an important human story told from the perspective of mixed race blood cancer patients who are forced to reflect on their multiracial identities and complex genetics as they struggle with a seemingly impossible search to find bone marrow donors, all while exploring what role race plays in medicine. With the multiracial community becoming one of the fastest growing demographics in North America, being mixed race is no longer just about an identity, it can be a matter of life and death.
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Jeff Chiba StearnsDirectorOne Big Hapa Family, Yellow Sticky Notes, "What Are You Anyways?", Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam, The Horror of Kindergarten, Cats, Kip and Kyle, Ode to a Post-it Note
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Jeff Chiba StearnsWriterOne Big Hapa Family, Yellow Sticky Notes, "What Are You Anyways?", Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam, The Horror of Kindergarten, Cats, Kip and Kyle, Ode to a Post-it Note
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Jeff Chiba StearnsProducerOne Big Hapa Family, Yellow Sticky Notes, "What Are You Anyways?", Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam, The Horror of Kindergarten, Cats, Kip and Kyle, Ode to a Post-it Note
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Ruth VincentProducerOne Big Hapa Family, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
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Genevieve VincentComposerOne Big Hapa Family, Yellow Sticky Notes
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Jeff Chiba StearnsEditorOne Big Hapa Family, Yellow Sticky Notes
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Project Type:Animation, Documentary
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Runtime:1 hour 36 minutes
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Completion Date:June 1, 2016
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Production Budget:250,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada, United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:DSLR, Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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35th Vancouver International Film FestivalVancouver
Canada
October 4, 2016
World -
36th Hawaii International Film FestivalHonolulu
United States
November 11, 2016
International -
20th Vancouver Asian Film FestivalVancouver
Canada
November 4, 2016
National Bank People’s Choice Award, Best Overall Feature -
20th Toronto Reel Asian International Film FestivalToronto
Canada
November 15, 2016
Toronto
Audience Choice Award, Best Overall Feature -
9th Philadelphia Asian American Film FestivalPhiladelphia
United States
November 19, 2016
East Coast -
17th San Diego Asian Film FestivalSan Diego
United States
November 6, 2016
US
Runner-up Audience Award -
23rd Victoria Film FestivalVictoria
Canada
February 3, 2017 -
33th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film FestivalLos Angeles
United States
April 29, 2017
Audience Award – North American Documentary Feature, Nominated Best Feature-Length Documentary -
35th CAAMFestSan Francisco
United States
March 12, 2017
Bay Area
Audience Award - Documentary -
41th Cleveland International Film FestivalCleveland
United States
March 30, 2017
Ohio -
19th Spokane International Film FestivalSpokane
United States
January 28, 2017
Best of the Northwest Feature Award -
18th Newport Beach Film FestivalNewport Beach
United Kingdom
April 23, 2017 -
12th DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of OregonEugene
United States
April 22, 2017
Oregon -
36th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film FestivalMinneapolis / St. Paul
United States
April 15, 2017
Minnesota -
Seattle Asian American Film FestivalSeattle
United States
February 24, 2017
Washington -
Powell River Film FestivalPowell River
Canada
February 17, 2017 -
18th The Roxbury International Film FestivalBoston
United States
June 25, 2017
Boston Premiere -
"CayFilm” Cayman Islands International Film FestivalGeorge Town
Cayman Islands
July 1, 2017
Caribbean Premiere -
14th Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film FestivalHouston
United States
June 3, 2017
Texas Premiere
Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature Film -
8th Chagrin Documentary FestivalChagrin Falls
United States
October 4, 2017 -
16th Asian Film Festival of DallasDallas
United States
July 16, 2017
Dallas Premiere
Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary and Special Jury Mention -
40th Asian American International Film FestivalNew York
United States
July 29, 2017
New York Premiere -
26th Heartland Film FestivalIndianapolis
United States
October 12, 2017
Indiana Premiere
Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and Webby award winning animation and documentary filmmaker. After graduating from the Emily Carr University with a degree in Film Animation, he founded Vancouver based boutique animation studio Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001. From animated viral video ads and broadcast commercials for companies like Sharpie, 3M and Post-it Note, to short and feature films like “What Are You Anyways?” (2005), Yellow Sticky Notes (2007), One Big Hapa Family (2010), Ode to a Post-it Note (2010) and Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam (2013), Jeff’s work has broadcast around the world, screened in hundreds of international film festivals and garnered over 30 awards. Mixed Match is Jeff’s second feature length documentary.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT As a filmmaker of multiethnic descent, a mix of Japanese, British, Scottish, Russian, and German, this documentary is very personal to me and my connection to the subject matter is of extreme significance. I was unaware of the medical issues involving people of mixed heritage until eight years ago when I was asked by a friend to join the Canadian bone marrow registry. My friend, who was a cancer survivor himself, was seeking out people of mixed Asian heritage to help save the life of a young, mixed Chinese/Caucasian man named James Erlandsen living in Vancouver who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Since I did not fully comprehend the significance of why people of mixed heritage were needed to join the marrow donor registry, I didn’t join.
I strongly believe that in order to progress through life, people should constantly be questioning who they are. Thus, identity plays a very important role in my writing and filmmaking. In my documentary, Mixed Match, I hope to help these patients and their families express their own unique stories and explore identity through the medical challenges faced by being mixed race.