7-year-old heroine needs help aiding others
The Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema will offer a very special opportunity on Saturday, March 10. Each year, different film stars such as Anne Archer, Will Wallace and Wolfgang Bodison visit Idyllwild during the event, usually with a film or project on which they are working. This year, Erika Christensen is expected at the Sunday awards presentations.
But on Saturday, the special person is a 7-year-old budding film star — Violet Brielle Spataro.
In her short life, Violet has had and recovered from bi-lateral retinoblastoma, a pediatric cancer that develops in the retinas of the eyes. She has become a spokeskid for Make-a-Wish Foundation, been a recurring guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and, importantly, created the Live Love Foundation, which helps children battling cancer.
Photo courtesy Stephen Savage
Violet will be at the IIFC as a guest of her uncle, Stephen Savage, the festival’s founder and director. This will be her first visit to Idyllwild and it will be a special one.
On Saturday at 11:15 a.m., at the Rustic Theatre, she will host a fundraiser for Live Love Foundation. Only 7, Violet has already accomplished much and fundraising is part of repertoire. At a fundraiser earlier this year, she raised $600,000 for the Make-a-Wish foundation.
Tickets to the Saturday benefit are $10 and all proceeds go directly to the Live Love Foundation. Through her foundation, Violet sends gifts to other children battling cancer and often delivers them in-person. For more information about Live Love Foundation, visit wwww.welivelove.org.
During the event, Brett Culp’s documentary “Look to The Sky,” which features Violet along with other young people who demonstrate “the spirit of Superman,” will be shown.
Also on the schedule will be Savage’s work, “Tucker’s War.”
The week after the IIFC, Uncle Steve has plans to give Violet a tour of Hollywood and especially the Disney attractions.
This is amazing !!!!