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It’s been a minute since I produced a new documentary film, and I’m so pleased to announce a virtual premiere of a new short film called “TBI & My Longest Ride” about Kajomo Moritz on December 18th. I met Kajomo in passing several times over the years at disability awareness events or brain injury groups. He often carried printouts of the story of his major life change from a very severe traumatic brain injury. But it wasn’t until 2019 that we connected. It was then that I got to learn so much more depth to the story of before his life change and life now with a neuro-disability. He asked me to make a documentary, and well, here we are!
When we started the film project, we planned to interview Kajomo’s acupuncturist and speech therapist and show him in sessions working with them. These are super important pieces to Kajomo’s story. Like many peers with TBI, he hasn’t gotten enough support over the years. So, you definitely wanna shine the spotlight on the people who are there, who are supporting his recovery, who are on his team. There were scheduling snafus, holiday breaks, a major break I took to deal with some life curve balls, and then the ultimate: the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, all the interviews that had been hard to schedule were completely off the table. I wasn’t even sure if I could film Kajomo riding a bike. Once info came out over the summer that wearing a mask, staying outside, and keeping our physical distance meant we were safe to film, we resumed. Still, the film had to be pared down to things I could film outside and from a distance. That left us with biking, which was always going to be a major part of the film. But now it was the film.
Please join us for a screening of the short film, “TBI & My Longest Ride” about Kajomo’s journey.
Friday, December 18th, 6:30 – 7:30 pm Pacific
A former Apparel Tech apparel designer, Karl Kajomo Moritz faced the ultimate life change when he was bicycle commuting home from work in 2010 and was hit head on by a car. After a severe Traumatic Brain Injury and five weeks in a coma, he was faced with the reality that Western medicine and Medicare coverage cannot provide enough for the lifelong process of healing. Taking matters into his own hands, Kajomo developed a healing plan with healthy eating, acupuncture, speech therapy, neurofeedback, and high cardio velodrome track riding. He embarked on what he calls spinning for neurogenesis: improving cognition and overall brain bandwidth and reconnecting with his sons and his community.
There will be a Q and A with Kajomo Moritz, the star of the film, tbi.my.longest.ride@gmail.com, and (me) Cheryl Green, filmmaker following the short film.
ASL Interpretation, Audio Description, and Live Captioning will be provided.
Attendance is free. Donations will be accepted at paypal.me/WAITSI.
“TBI & My Longest Ride” was funded by a generous grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. This event is sponsored by Brain Injury Connections Northwest.
Register for the free Zoom screening event at https://tinyurl.com/y6plkuzw
Here is the film to view anytime with Audio Description, and here is the film without Audio Description. Both versions have Closed Captions.
Below is an Enhanced Transcript with Audio Description and Closed Caption text.
Transcript
KAJOMO: Blissfulness. It really is blissfulness.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: The rider’s shadow floats across the screen.
KAJOMO: I feel like, almost like I’m on top of the world, you know? From being hit by a car, then TBI, DIA then around here, doing track by myself, feels great.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: The texture and mottled colors of the cement stream past. The wheel slows, revealing alternating patches of black and white painted on the rim. The bike rolls onto lawn, slowing to a stop. Cut to black. A fair-skinned hand removes the camera lens cap. A chair beneath a leafy tree. [lens cap clicks] Lens cap in hand, a man in short-sleeved collar shirt sits. He wears a graying stubble beard.
KAJOMO: Hi. My name’s Kajomo. I wanna share a story with you. I did tech design for tennis wear. I did in-line product that would also go to athletes: Roger Federer, Nadal, Martina, and also Serena.
Every Saturday, I would take my boys to the park to play.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: May 2010.
KAJOMO: OK. Here we are on a Chinese bicycle. Here’s the boys in the back.
AIDAN: What?
KAJOMO: Say hi, boys.
AIDAN: Hi!
KAJOMO: Say hi, Elliot.
ELLIOT: Hi.
KAJOMO: Hi, Ariel.
ARIEL: Hi, Ariel.
KAJOMO: Going to the park.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Boys seated in back.
KAJOMO: So, one evening, June 29th, 2010, I was biking, and…I was hit head-on by a car, dragged me under the car 30 feet.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Rafael Nadal.
RAFAEL: Hey, Karl. I heard about your accident. I’m so sorry, but I heard you’re getting better. I wish you all the best, and I hope to meet you soon. See you soon, friend. All the best.
[pensive music]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Photos: Kajomo unconscious in ICU on a ventilator.
KAJOMO: I took medication for two years. Too many side effects. Too many side effects. So, I stop. Let me try something different. Let me try naturopathic.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: In a wheelchair and neck brace posed with his sons.
KAJOMO: I find exercise, acupuncture, neurofeedback, healthy nervous system to be better for my brain, more than medicines have side effects.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He wears a cap and puffy jacket. A sweeping view of the banked track and bleachers of the outdoor Alpenrose bike track.
KAJOMO: I started to do velodrome track development training classes in 2014.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: White cleated cycling shoes and helmet. He grabs a bag of tools.
KAJOMO: And after five years of training once a week for six months, I finally got certified as a Category 5 racer.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: On Kajomo’s jersey, “Team Kajomo” and a chain-ring Yin-Yang. Hoists his bike onto the track.
KAJOMO: A little bit slower than somebody without a neuro-disability and low income. But I did it. [bike cleats clack on the cement]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Takes careful steps onto the track.
KAJOMO: On my fifth anniversary of TBI,
I thought I have my boys could watch me race the track. So, I did it, yes.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Smiles.
KAJOMO: So, that’s my, that was first official race.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Cell footage of the race.
ELLIOT: Good luck, Papa.
KAJOMO: Thanks, buddy.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: With Kajomo at the back of the pack, racers take off and ride up a steep surface at the turn.
[music plays over speakers] ♪ Will you walk on by ♪
ANNOUNCER: All right. So, Alpenrose mile: 6-lap race, combined beginners men and our juniors from the camp…. [bike chains spinning over many bikes’ chain ring teeth]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Racers in other heats wait in the grassy field at the center of the velodrome. The cell camera follows as they round a turn, finishing the first lap.
[bright music slowly fades up]
KAJOMO: Before my life change, I was very gregarious. But now, zip it ’cause most of the time, people think I’m drunk ’cause of my aphasia.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A dark smirk.
KAJOMO: With my Medicare, I had three months of speech therapy. So, after that, I’m like, what can I do? I asked my doctor to refer for me for another year. Said no. He says, “You’re done.” I’ve done speech and cognition therapy for 10, 9 years. Every week. I have to pay for it too, out of my pocket.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A decal on his apartment door, “Mortiz” with a bike chain cutting through the M. In his Team Kajomo jersey, walks out of his apartment with his bike. He lubes the bright red chain. He tightens the brakes with an Allen wrench. A vintage military decal of a shark mouth on his frame. He wears a Buddha charm beaded bracelet.
KAJOMO: I lost my Social Security Disability Insurance for five months, five months ’cause of COVID. Things are overwhelmed. I’ve gone through all my savings. Now I’m dry.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Fills the tire with a small, portable bike pump.
KAJOMO: Some people have no idea what it’s like to be so damn poor, so poor. Try to pull yourself, try to get yourself up back where you were!
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He blinks, sighs, gathers himself.
KAJOMO: [sighs] Try to get yourself back to or close to where you were before with no money? How.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Back at the apartment, he leans the bike slightly to step over it.
KAJOMO: I bought a used frame, and from there, I built everything by myself.
[stirring music]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: It’s a chilly, cloudy day. He pauses, steps onto the pedals, and slowly takes off into the apartment complex parking lot, wheels of his fixed-gear bike turning in concert with his pedal strokes. The bike glides gracefully out of view.
KAJOMO: You know, my friends and family have no idea how hard it is for me to be by myself out here with very little help at all.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Returns home from his ride, leaning into a careful turn up the sidewalk, and steps over and off the bike.
KAJOMO: I did research: What’s the best physical exercise for brain health? Number one: ballet. Two: martial arts. Three: bike riding.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A huge grin.
KAJOMO: ‘Cause all those, mostly for cognition. Helps your cognition. Exercise helps your cognition.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Back at the track, burgundy leaves line the inner edge. Kajomo races to and past the camera. [chain whirs, tires glide]
KAJOMO: For me, it’s been a great way to rebuild neural connections and multi-tasking. When you have both feet directly attached to your pedals and spinning in pace with others and aiming not to crash, all while keeping pace within the group and going around the 295-yard track on 43 bank turns, it’s quite challenging.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Completes a turn high up on a steep bank, returns, bringing himself to a careful stop on the grass.
KAJOMO: I believe development track times have been a great therapy that I self-discovered for balance, cognition, spatial awareness, and fantastic exercise.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Dismounts, rests a moment, then walks his bike to the bleachers.
KAJOMO: [long, deep breaths] I’m never scared. Stubborn yes, stubborn yes. But scared, no.
[uplifting music]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He transforms his bike for street riding by snapping on pedal platforms and installing his front light and a bottle cage. He steps into his laced street trainers. In his down jacket again, he carries the bike up the stairs.
KAJOMO: With my traumatic brain injury group, I’ve had a lawyer, also a member, write up a waiver so peers can ride with me at events. In the last three years, I’ve done one ride a year with peers. Very happy. I call it part of spinning for neurogenesis.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: A bright summer day, a paved path curves through the dry grass and leafy trees at a residential park. Karl, and his three sons—12, 15, and 17—ride down the path toward the park. In helmets and face masks, they ride slowly, casually past the camera.
KAJOMO: For my boys’ 13th birthday being special, I always wanted to do something special for them. So, I built their own bikes for them, each boy, own bike. That way, it’s something special. Not just buy something to give. From my heart to you, boys.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: He nods. Back at the park, they round a corner, Karl in the lead.
KAJOMO: I have always had a great relationship with my three boys. I still try to support my boys with guidance and supervision, but that’s difficult with my multiple disabilities.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Solo at the velodrome, then back to the park.
KAJOMO: I now have to repeat my conversations with my boys so they understand me.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: On the swings.
KAJOMO: They would say, “Papa, we heard you the first time.” “Boys, I’m just trying to speak more clearly, and my aphasia makes me sound more like combined words.” I still like doing silly things with my boys.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: They twist playfully.
KAJOMO: But I’ve lost years of being so close to them and doing what I can to get some of that back.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: The four ride back down the paved path, pedaling gently and squinting in the sun.
KAJOMO: Boys, I love you so much!
[bikes rattle and clank gently, chains spin]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: They turn past the camera, Karl at the rear of the pack. Fade to black.
[birds sing in the distance as music continues softly]
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: Credits: Filmmaker Cheryl Green; Featuring Karl Kajomo Moritz; Camera Kai Tillman, Cheryl Green, Asia Brown, Karl Kajomo Moritz; Captions and Audio Description; Cheryl Green, Oliver Baker A photo of Kajomo walking down the long track with his bike. Text on the picture: “TBI & My Longest Ride: A Documentary Film.” This project was funded by a generous grant from Regional Arts & Culture Council. Copyright Cheryl Green 2020.
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