After the tragic death of his sister, filmmaker Frankie Kraft gathers his courage and faces his grief by emotionally connecting with the recipient of his sister’s heart.
Executive produced by award winning filmmaker, Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed & Confused, Before series), “Help Her Live” is a documentary by filmmaker Frankie Kraft. Seven years after Frankie’s sister, Sammi Kane Kraft star of Linklater’s 2004 remake “Bad News Bears”, is killed in a tragic car accident, Frankie chronicles his search for meaning after devastating loss. Gathering his strength, Frankie prepares to face down his grief in a cross country trip with the ultimate destination of meeting the recipient of Sammi’s heart, an organ donation that saves several lives after the heartbreaking loss of another. Featuring music from critically acclaimed rock group, HAIM, including “Hallelujah” written about Sammi from their Grammy Nominated Album of the Year, Women In Music Part III.
The title “Help Her Live” comes from a song by Sammi written for a musical we collaborated on before she died. The song lyrics say, “In my heart she’s still there, and in my dreams is where she lives”. Sammi died less than a year after writing this, I couldn’t shake the irony of her music. When my family made the choice to donate Sammi’s organs, these words became even more poignant. Years later, when deciding to take the life steps of meeting Sammi’s heart recipient, I remember her lyrics (also scribed on her epitaph) as strength and encouragement in her memory. After her death, I struggled to connect to a resource that brought peace in her loss. I wanted to tell a story, Sammi’s story, my story, and her recipient’s story to bring attention to grief, loss and hope-- and the miraculous nature of our world. The messages of “Help Her Live” are much greater than grief or hope-- it is about the human spirit and our relation to one another on this planet. In this day and age, post-global-pandemic, we need stories like “Help Her Live” to display how precious our lives and bodies are and how we can move forward in the wake of tragedy.
