Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
(click on broll or dschwartz for all his posts)
Open Heart: Healing and Hope in Africa
An Academy Award nominated documentary short, “Open Heart” features the work of “Africa’s only free-of-charge, state-of-the-art cardiac hospital, the Salam Center run by Emergency, an Italian NGO.” The center is in the nation of Sudan, and is the only facility of its kind in Africa where, “there are an estimated 18 million people afflicted with rheumatic heart disease and in need of urgent surgery, almost two thirds of them children, and the disease kills 300,000 people per year.”
Dr. Emmanuel Rusingiza is Rwanda’s only public cardiologist.
Dr. Gino Strada is the Salam Center’s head surgeon.
Director Kief Davidson and company follow Rusingiza and eight Rwandan children on a continent long journey to Sudan. Although it is a high-risk procedure for these children whose hearts have been damaged, open heart surgery is their only hope of living. If a child dies in Sudan, the law requires that she or he be buried there. So, when the eight separate from their parents or guardians for this journey, it is understood that any one child may not be seen again.
In addition to following the children, Davidson’s camera and microphone cover Drs. Strada and Rusingiza as they speak of their work, its challenges, and their hopes.
The Salam Center’s budget is US$5 million annually. At the time of filming, the center’s support was under threat. Be that as it may, in light of the massive numbers of humans suffering and dying from ‘acquired’ heart disease, Dr. Strada describes what he and his are doing as ‘a spit in the ocean.’
This HBO documentary is an unabashed yet righteous solicitation for support. And, as always, the least expensive and most compassionate response to this medical crisis is to eradicate the infectious diseases that damage hearts.