In My Genes - Short Film on Sickle-Cell Anaemia

My name is Lekan and I am a sickle-cell patient. Sickle-cell disease is an incurable, extremely painful and life-threatening disease that I struggle with daily. I dedicate my time to raising awareness for and providing support for other Sickle-cell patients in my community. This documentary which I will be the subject of, provides an opportunity to reach a wider audience in the continued effort to raise awareness and advocate for my community members.

Logline: A young man struggles with his identity and cultural pressures while dealing with a debilitating genetic disease that is determined to slow him down.

Note from Director:

This GoFundMe is aimed to raise funds for a short film I am making in June 2024. It is an observational documentary about Olalekan, a sickle cell patient and an advocate in the community. The motivation for making this film is based on my experience of losing my brother, who had sickle cell anaemia last year. The disease is prevalent among black people, with Nigeria having the highest numbers, and there’s yet to be a cure for the disease. A gene-editing therapy that could cure the disease is currently being developed, but it costs over a million pounds to afford it. I want to contribute to raising awareness of this disease and what life is like living with it from Olalekan’s perspective.

I am raising funds to support some of the production costs incurred while making this important film.