Corazón

Elena, who makes her living on the streets of Santo Domingo, learns she has a fatal heart condition. Treatment means going to the United States, and a visa stands in the way. She meets Mario, an American cardiologist volunteering in his home town. The film is not interested in the illness. It is interested in who has access to treatment: the real obstacle here is not the heart but a passport and money. It shows that through a single case, without preaching. The form is short and direct: forty-eight minutes, streets of the Dominican Republic, hospital corridors and few characters. John Hillcoat directed. The production was financed entirely by the Montefiore health system and is based on a real patient's story. It premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, the festival's first collaboration with a health organisation, and the screening was accompanied by a campaign calling for organ donor registration. Ana de Armas plays Elena and Demián Bichir the doctor. Who it is for: viewers interested in the short format and stories about health systems. Who it is not for: anyone expecting an independent production. The film was funded by an institution and its campaign purpose is plainly felt inside the narrative.