Izidor Ruckel, now 35, stands in the room where he spent his youth at an orphanage in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania.Īs an infant, Ruckel contracted polio. The building was shut down in 2003 and is now abandoned, like he and so many others were.Ī photo from the photo essay “Home at Last” of Izidor arriving in San Diego, California in 1991 and walking to the car with his new dad. Izidor Ruckel walks outside the Institute for the Unsalvageables, where he was placed after he was infected with polio as an infant. As a child, he was able to visit the town only a few times. The orphanage where he spent his childhood is located where the trees can be seen beyond the buildings. Izidor Ruckel overlooks his hometown of Sighetu Marmatiei. Romanian adoptee Izidor Ruckel walks the streets of Bucharest, Romania on a return visit this Spring. As an infant, Izidor was stricken with polio from an infected needle, which resulted in his parents abandoning him and his eventual placement in a Romanian orphanage in 1980.Ī portrait of Izidor taken in his apartment in Denver last summer. Tom Szalay and Izidor Ruckel (from left) discuss the many photographs that Szalay has taken to document the dismal conditions of Romanian orphanages, such as the one that Ruckel was adopted from more than 20 years ago in Ogden on May 23, 2015.Ī photo from the photo essay “Home at Last” of Izidor, held by his new adoptive father, Danny Ruckel, playing in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Ruckel was adopted in 1991 at the age of 11 and came to live in San Diego with his new family. Information on their documentary, along with the trailer, can be found on their websites, and Ruckel talks about his painful experiences of living inside an orphanage in Romania, at the home of photographer Tom Szalay in Ogden on May 23, 2015. They hope to help the multitude of orphans in Romania and around the world who long to be "given their chance." His previous feature length documentary "Born to be our Children, Romanian Adoption Stories" won a Gold Remi at the Houston Worldfest in 2011, a screening at the LA Film and Music Festival in Beverly Hills, also in 2011, and "A Rising Star Award" at the Vancouver International Film Festival 2012.Īlex and Izidor were destined to come together to help raise awareness for adoption. He has traveled around the United States as a public speaker, talking to groups and raising awareness for adoption.Īlex King found his voice in film. He wrote his autobiography, "Abandoned for Life" in 2002. Izidor Ruckel is an author and public speaker. Although they did not meet until 2012, they both shared a desire to tell their story and somehow help those children left behind. Both men were adopted from Romania as children. Alex and Izidor joined forces to create this documentary. "Given Our Chance" is an inspiring story of adoption. Alex and Izidor were overjoyed when they heard "The Platinum Remi Award for Independent Short Documentary goes to 'Given Our Chance,' Alex King Director and Izidor Ruckel Producer." The ballroom fills with excitement as Hunter reads the bronze, then the silver, the gold and then platinum Remi winners. As Hunter Todd, Chairman and Founder of Worldfest said in his opening monologue, "Everyone here tonight is a winner.you are the best of the best." This year Worldfest Houston received over 4,500 entries from 33 countries. Worldfest notifies the winners, however they are not told what level they have won, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum, until the evening of the awards ceremony. They were advised in March that their documentary had been chosen to win a prestigious Remi Award. Film Production and Editing and Izidor Ruckel of Ruckel International attended the awards ceremony for the 47th Worldfest International Independent Film Festival in Houston this past Saturday. San Francisco, CA, Ap-( PR.com)- Alex King of A.K.
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