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HEART OF HOPE

Starring: Connie-Kiss Mee (Sky/HBO Landscapers as the young Oliva Colman) our newcomer and breakout young star plays Iris. Sean Knopp (Dr Who, The Bible and the hit series, 24) as her dad, and featuring the dancers from Iris Warriors.
Genre: Kids & Family; Drama | Running Time: 1:34 minutes |
Directed and Produced by: Roydon Turner

It’s not every day that a family movie packs such a powerful punch. With a touching plot, a stellar cast and crucial message for both parents and children, Heart of Hope provides entertainment the whole family.

Why should families talk about organ donation?
Currently, very few families get around to talking about it and most assume it’s a potentially awkward, complex and sad topic to broach. So they just don’t. And in the meantime, many grown-ups and kids die waiting for life-saving organs.
Iris’s story is an opportunity to help change this.

Breathing new life, and light, into the family genre…

It’s not every day that a family movie packs such a powerful punch. With a touching plot, a stellar cast and crucial message for both parents and children, Heart of Hope provides entertainment the whole family.

Following the story of an 8-year-old girl with big dreams, and an equally big heart condition, viewers of all ages are invited on the journey of facing their own darkest fears, only to realise, as Iris herself does, that love and hope can bring back the light.

“Filming under immense time pressure in the midst of a pandemic was challenging to say the least,” reflects the Director and Producer, Roydon Turner. “Yet again and again, the cast and entire crew brought everything they had, plus a little extra, to the set. I couldn’t be prouder of the end result.”

The result is a magnificent blend of classic storytelling, mixed in with a touch of breath-taking dance choreography and fantasy too, as Iris’ grandmother (played by Linda-Jean Barry) invites her into a fantasy world of personified colours, fighting their own battles against dark shadows that threaten to extinguish their life and light.

Beneath all of these imaginative arcs, the spotlight falls front and centre on one important and pressing current issue: organ donation.

Faced with the ever-more-urgent need for a new heart, and the implications of what this means for both her and any potential donor, Iris (along with viewers watching the movie) are able to process the enormity of the subject slowly, over the course of the film. Indeed, helping families to have the all-important conversations surrounding organ transplantation and donation is a central aspect of the film’s entire purpose.

“Despite the critical shortage of organ donors, around 40% of people still say no to organ donation because they don’t know their loved ones’ choices – they’ve never had the conversation,” says Roydon. “We need to get people (young and old) talking about organ donation, and that’s what this film seeks to do.”

PRESENTED BY THE ORGAMITES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES

They’re a team of 9 life-saving organs (led by Captain Marrow) found in every one of us. They’re known as the mighty organs because they represent the most-donated parts of the body. These lovable characters help kids to connect with and appreciate the roles of their organs, while learning what organ donation and transplantation is all about. The Orgamites also inspire children to live healthier, show more compassion for others, and be more environmentally aware. Consisting of an ever-growing range of fun, educational tools and resources — our hope is that more parents, teachers and healthcare practitioners can be empowered to have more conversations with more children, all in the hopes of changing the way people of all ages view their mighty organs and organ donation, and thereby increasing the amount of organs donated and thenumber of subsequent lives saved.

Every tool created has been designed in such a way as to empower you with the ideal, most informative and exciting resources to equip and educate the children in your care.