14-09-2008

Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition Spotlight: A Warm Heart

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    A Warm Heart from Krzysztof Zanussi takes a dark comedy approach to the subject of heart transplants.

    Active ImageThe Polish-Ukranian co-production and was the first project realized after the signing of the co-operation Memorandum between the The National Cinematography Serivice of Ukraine and the Polish Film Insititute (www.pisf.pl) on February 6, 2008. The Polish producer is The Documentary and Feature Films Studio (WFDiF, www.wfdif.com.pl) and the Ukrainian side is represented by SOTA Cinema Group. The movie was shot both in Polish and Ukrainian language versions.

    A Warm Heart tells the story of Stefan, who after a failed suicide attempt ends up in a hospital where he meets Konstanty, a multimillionaire shopping for a new heart to transplant. The dying man tries to keep up Stefan's suicide plans to save his own life.

    Active Image"The movie's total budget is 1million Euros and the co-producers are Monolith Films (www.monolith.pl) and TOR Film Production (www.tor.com.pl)," Filip Trziszka from Monolith Films told FNE. "Monolith Films is handling the distribution in Poland and SOFA Cinema Group will be presenting it in Ukraine. Of course we will try to attract some other international sales.," he adds. The movie received 505,000 Euros of production financing from PFI.

    Heart on his sleeve was shot n Warsaw and Kiev between March and April 2008 and completed post-production in July. The Polish premiere of the picture is planned for September 26.