A few years ago a good friend of Alternative Hair, Carlo Corradi, together with his colleague, Luis Vidal, decided to make a film of the remarkable story of Tony Rizzo and his personal fight to help fund the search for a cure for childhood Leukaemia.
Sadly, before the project could be completed, Carlo passed away. Now young film-maker, Antonio Celotto has taken upon himself the task of finishing the film. The story is an important one. It tells how an ‘ordinary man’, hairdresser Tony Rizzo, took upon himself a pledge to save children from this terrible form of cancer, a disease that took his first-born child’s life.
Back in the early 1980’s when Tony and Maggie Rizzo’s young son, Valentino, developed Leukaemia, over 80% of children suffering from blood cancers did not survive. 33 years on, over 90% live and scientists are very close to identifying the cause and the cure. But until that wonderful day is reached, Tony’s work must continue.
After Valentino’s death, Tony invited his hairdressing peers to join him, participating in a hairdressing show, to inspire other hairdressers and raise funds for the Leukaemia Research Fund. They did this at their own cost, showing their most creative work and inspiring hairdressers across the globe. Since that first year, Tony has organized an Alternative Hair Show every year in London, as well as shows in Chicago, Seoul, Vienna, Rome and Moscow. The shows offer an evening of magnificent entertainment, inspiration and emotion.
More recently Tony and his family founded their own charity “Fighting Leukaemia” linking to the work done through Alternative Hair and giving them a close personal vision to achieve their fund-raising goals.
Alternative Hair has so many stories, so many images to show and so many people to thank for their involvement in the success of this enduring project. It’s a story that should be told.
But now they need your help to finalize the movie and tell the story of Alternative Hair Show to as many people as possible!
In order to complete the film Alternative Hair is fund-raising the shoot to include the latest updates and information on medical research as well as interviews with the protagonists of the Alternative Hair Shows. “We don’t just want to fund-raise, we want to reward our supporters! We will regularly update you on our shoot days, so you can be part of the documentary and even participate in the AHS,” says Tony Rizzo.
Once they hit the fund-raising goal to complete the film, every single pound you donate will go straight towards research to fight Leukaemia at Great Ormond Street Hospital. After 32 years boosting funding in the fight against Leukaemia Tony is bringing his personal goal to another level. Thanks to everyone who has supported him, and with AHS close collaboration with the Great Ormond Street Hospital, 3 children out of 4 now survive the disease.
Tony’s next goal it to take this knowledge outside the UK, to many countries where there is a high concentration of children still facing Leukaemia with poor hopes of survival.
AHS documentary sends a vital message to make more people more aware of Alternative Hair and the funding required, so we need to bring the message to a broader audience.
If you are unable to contribute please still support Alternative Hair by sharing the Indiegogo link with your friends and family: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-man-s-fight-documentary–2
You can also follow all the future updates on the AHS Facebook page!