The Heart of the World

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The Heart of the World
Directed by	Guy Maddin
Produced by	Niv Fichman Jody Shapiro
Starring	Leslie Bais Caelum Vatnsdal Shaun Balbar
Music by	Georgy Vasilevich Sviridov
Cinematography	Guy Maddin
Editing by	Deco Dawson Guy Maddin
Release date(s)	2000
Running time	6 min.
Country	Canada
Language	Silent
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The Heart of the World is a short film written and directed by Guy Maddin, produced for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. It is a homage to silent movies, and as such, it is black and white, grainy, and without dialogue, and contains many references to styles and movies of the silent era. Only 6 minutes long, it runs at a very fast pace, at an average rate of two shots per second, which is intensified by the background music, Time, forward!, by Georgy Vasilevich Sviridov.

[edit] Plot summary

Two brothers, mortician Nikolai and actor Osip (playing Christ in a Passion Play), love the same woman -- scientist Anna, who studies the earth's core, or the "heart of the world." Anna discovers that the world is in danger. In order to save it, she must choose between the brothers, and finally decides on a rich industrialist, Akmatov. As a result, the very heart of the world has a heart attack. Realizing what she has done, she strangles Akmatov and enters the earth's core, replacing the failed heart with her own. The world is then saved by the new message, Kino.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Aspen Shortsfest:

• Win: Best Cinematography - Guy Maddin

Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film:

• Win: Special Mention - Short Film - Guy Maddin

Miami Film Festival:

• Win: FIPRESCI Prize, Best Short Subject - Guy Maddin

National Society of Film Critics Awards

• Win: Best Experimental Film - Guy Maddin

San Francisco International Film Festival

• Win: Film & Video - Short Narrative, Golden Gate Award - Guy Maddin

[edit] External links

• The Heart of the World at Zeitgeist

v • d • e Films directed by Guy Maddin Feature films: Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1988) Archangel (1990) • Careful (1993) • Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997) • Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) • Cowards Bend the Knee (2003) • The Saddest Music in the World (2003) • Brand Upon the Brain! (2006) • My Winnipeg (2007) • Short films: The Heart of the World (2000)