Open Heart

  • 1

Eight Rwandan children leave their families behind to embark on a life-or-death journey seeking high-risk heart surgery in Sudan. Their hearts ravaged by a treatable disease from childhood strep throat, the kids have only months to live.

Year

2012

Length

40 min

Director
Kief Davidson
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Open Heart reveals the intertwined endeavors of Dr. Emmanuel Rusingiza, Rwanda’s lone government cardiologist, as he fights to save the lives of his young patients, and Dr. Gino Strada, the Salam Center’s head surgeon who must convince Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir’s government to keep Africa’s only link to life-saving cardiac surgery free of charge for the millions who need it.

Produced and Directed by
Kief Davidson

Producer
Cori Shepherd Stern

Executive Producers
Geralyn Dreyfous
Rick Rosenthal
Nancy Stephens
Eric Dobkin
Barbara Dobkin
Sean Mewshaw
Desi Van Til
Damon Lindelof
Heidi Lindelof

Co-Executive Producer
Abigail Disney

Music by
Johnny Klimek
Gabriel Isaac Mounsey

Edited by
Flavia de Souza
Kief Davidson

Director of Photography
Zak Mulligan

Executive Producer
Kerstin Meyer-Beetz

Line Producer
Kathrin Isberner

Commissioning Editor
Catherine Le Goff

Open Heart
Trailer
  • „Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“
    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
    17.05.2018

In co-production with

  • wdr

In co-production with

  • urban landscapes

In association with

  • Whitewater
  • Believe Media
  • Sundance

Supported by

  • skoll
  • Tribeca
  • arte