Artist in fight of his life
Emelie Peacock
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
This year's 48 Hour Music Video Competition was more than just a creative challenge for Andrew Debogorski. It was a demonstration of kindness and generosity from the city's artistic community.
Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs holds the camera as Andrew Debogorski screams into it and Bryce Styan assists. Debogorski competed in the Western Arctic Moving Pictures 48 Hour Music Video Competition from June 2 to 4, winning the audience choice award. Shortly after, Debogorski was diagnosed with ALS. - photo courtesy Dumaresq Valpy |
In the past year, the hip-hop artist started developing symptoms he strongly suspected were ALS but that didn't stop him from joining the competition. He received an official diagnosis June 8.
The Western Arctic Moving Pictures competition held over the weekend from June 2 to 4 gave participants the chance to create a music video within the span of 48 hours. Debogorski and his teammate Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs missed the deadline because of video formatting issues but the team did not go out of the weekend empty-handed.
Not only did the video for his song, F.I.T.H.A. win the audience choice award, but first-place winners ORORO Mohawk were so touched by the 31-year-old's story they decided to donate their $600 prize to him.
"It was just so sudden and so surprising for everybody," said Alexander Weir, member of ORORO Mohawk. "Once we realized that we had won, it just became really obvious that we had to help him out. I mean, that's the nature of Yellowknife."
The money went to a Go Fund Me page dedicated to help finance Debogorski's medical needs. The goal is to help finance treatment in the U.S., which could include stem-cell therapy. The fundraiser has reached $20,000 with a target of $200,000.
The 48 Hour Music Video Competition pairs filmmakers and artists together through a name draw. At 5:30 p.m. Friday, they draw the names and then the music videos must be submitted by 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Debogorski, a multi-genre rapper who has been making music since he was a teenager, wrote F.I.T.H.A. about being aware of your own and others' issues and finding empathy for them.
"It's one of the funnest things I've ever done actually," he said of the competition.
This is the second year he's entered. Debogorski said the time limit is a great idea as artists don't always finish projects, and the deadline helps them get creative.
His teammate Morritt-Jacobs is a video journalist with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. It was her first time filming a music video solo.
She said she felt a lot of responsibility working with Debogorski on a project so close to his heart and with so many people from his support network around him on set.
"First and foremost I think it was an opportunity for him to show his courage," she said. "Throughout the music video he never used the word can't. He broke down a few times because he was fairly emotional, he walked us through some of the changes he was going through because of ALS."
Despite the media attention from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser that became an Internet sensation in 2014, Debogorski said ALS is still a relatively unknown disease. He said many people make assumptions about the physical challenges he faces such as changes to his gait, speech and emotions.
"It's a tragic blessing to go from 100 per cent healthy to 100 per cent disabled because you grow this new set of eyes," he said. "I wouldn't go back, I always want to see with this new set. You go from being healthy to unhealthy and you see different society taboos, people treat you different because you slur and you stagger."
Morritt-Jacobs said some of the experiences Debogorski talked about were very similar to what her father has gone through as a person with Parkinson's disease.
"Something I really wanted to portray in the video is sensitivity," she said. "People aren't educated enough in all the different diseases and all of the signs and instead of asking and listening first, people make assumptions."
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a neurological disorder with similar characteristics to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. It affects two per 100,000 Canadians according to the ALS Society of British Columbia.
ALS is a rapidly progressive disease that begins with muscle weakening and wasting - usually occurring on one side of the body - that can lead to loss of hand or shoulder movement and difficulty walking. In about 25 per cent of cases, symptoms include a difficulty articulating words and swallowing.
