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Open Hearted
A not-so-normal family deals with a not-so-normal heart.

PROJECT SYNOPSIS

53 minutes, Color, USA, Shot on DV Cam transferred to 35mm film
©2002 Ostrick Productions,

Open Hearted chronicles the most difficult journey of my life: preparing for, undergoing and recovering from my third open-heart surgery at the ripe age of 27. And not only do I have to come to terms with my own mortality, I also have to deal with my anxious divorced parents who haven't seen each other in years. Making this film almost killed me.

In making this film I wanted to create a tool to raise awareness for congenital heart disease. When most people think about heart disease they think of senior citizens, not children.

A FEW STATISTICS

25,000 people are born annually in the United States with congenital heart defects. Every year, 5,600 people, mostly infants, die from congenital heart complications. Only in the past 30 years, since the mid-seventies, has open-heart surgery been a viable and widely accessible option for people with congenital defects. Even today, it is a procedure which, though frequently performed, requires the highest levels of training and performance.

The human heart has been known to pump for a hundred years without failure, resting less than a second between contractions. It is a miracle of evolution, an emblem of endurance and a symbol of potency. The heart pumps life through our bodies and feeds fuels to our minds. Too bad mine was busted.