SYNOPSIS
This sensitive portrayal of a young woman’s emotional journey is both thought provoking and moving. It is an emotional tour de force as Lucy experiences love, loss, happiness, anger, and passion over three turbulent years.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
“I create projects about love and romance by telling inspiring stories that explore our universal need for human connection.”
About two years ago I made a chance discovery that recipients of a heart transplant can inherit certain personality traits or desires of the donor. My imagination was immediately sparked by this extraordinary idea; somehow it spoke to me on a profound level and drove me to create this story. I was intrigued by the idea that in some way, part of a person might live on through their heart. It made me ask two questions: what did this mean and what purpose did this serve?
Gifts of the Heart is a love story. It is a story about healing and how pain can lead to spiritual and human growth. It is also a story about a power that is greater than ourselves, the unexplainable on a logical level, but the truth on a deeper human and spiritual level. My idea was to create a character driven narrative where the protagonists are compelled by their subconscious needs which gradually define their emotional needs. My story is completely fictional but was inspired by the many stories I researched about the way in which a heart transplant gives more than just the gift of life to the recipient, it also appears to allow the donor to live on in some way we cannot logically explain.
My story is crafted so that it begins on a mundane, everyday level and then as the events and emotional needs of the characters develop, I strive to create heightened emotional responses both in the characters and the audience. My aim is to inspire through a story which evokes our empathy and our love for our fellow beings and compels us to explore what it is to be human.
PRINCIPAL CAST
TAMZIN MERCHANT
Tamzin first came to international audiences playing ‘Georgiana Darcy’ in Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice. She has gone on to roles in the Oscar nominated Jane Eyre directed by Cary Fukunaga, Mark Raso’s Copenhagen, David Blair’s The Messenger and Stéphanie Di Giusto’s The Dancer, which was screened in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at Cannes Film Festival in 2016. Tamzin is best known for playing the role of ‘Anne Hale’ in three seasons of the hit WGN show Salem and for her starring role as ‘Catherine Howard’ in Showtime’s The Tudors. Other television credits include the BBC adaptation of Charles Dicken’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the BBC’s My Family & Other Animals. Tamzin will next be seen in Amazon Studios’ upcoming original series Carnival Row in which she will star opposite Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne.
MIKE BECKINGHAM
Mike Beckingham is an upcoming British actor who is known for his range, versatility and rawness. Mike is a third generation actor (He is Simon Pegg’s brother) who grew up in the beautiful countryside of Gloucestershire, although very proud of his roots, London was calling. Following on from his first lead role in the feature film Subconscious (2013) he won ‘Best Actor’ at the British Horror Film Festival 2017 for his performance in ‘Redwood’ (currently on Amazon), and was nominated for ‘Best Actor’ at the National Film Awards 2018. Mike has two movies due out in 2019 ‘Black Site’ & ‘AMS Secrets’.
LUCY FLEMING
Lucy has extensive performing experience in theatre, television and film. Theatre: When Did You Last See My Mother, As You Like It, Richard II, A Patriot For Me, Hay Fever, Middle-Age Spread, A Personal Affair, A Kind of Alaska, Our Song, That Good Night, The Constant Wife and most recently As Good a Time as Any at The Print Room. Her many TV appearances include Richard II, Smiley’s People, Pride and Prejudice, The Avengers, A Dance to the Music of Time, Mr Bean, Rosemary and Thyme and Law and Order. She played Jenny in the 1970’s series, Survivors. On film Lucy featured in Ken Loach’s A Misfortune, as well as The Sorrows, Katherine Mansfield, and The Boat that Rocked among others. She played Lady Wavell in Viceroy’s House directed by Gurinda Chadha. On Radio 4 she was Miranda Elliot in The Archers. Her next part will be in Love, Sarah- a feature film starring Celia Imrie. She has recently being playing off Broadway in “Posting Letters to the Moon” as part of the Brits Off Broadway season at 59E59 Theatres.
AKI OMOSHAYBI
Aki, Actor, Director, Writer and Dancer. Films include: Star Wars, The Last Jedi, Burning Men, The Riot Club, Kids In Love, A Moving Image, Manolo, Faces. TV includes: Defending The Guilty, Father Brown, Sick of It, and Dr Who. Theatre: West end, Westside Story, Hairspray, Chariots of Fire, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Hair and has appeared in plays at The RSC, Royal Exchange.
Aki recently wrote and starred in SPILT, nominated at British Urban Film Festival, Groucho Film Festival . Aki is currently making his directorial debut feature film ‘REAL’, which he also wrote and is starring in.
ROXANNE DOURO
Roxanne is an award-winning scriptwriter, Actress and Director. Roxanne has appeared in many short films, musicals and commercials. Following the success of her co-written short film ‘Bedlamite’. Ms Douro is in full swing on her next projects.
BENJAMIN GRIFFIN
Benjamin, born in South London has always had a keen interest in acting. Ben has studied acting in London and LA and is represented in both cities.
Ben has appeared in a number of independent movies, shorts, a TV drama as well as a feature. His appetite for improving his understanding of what it means to carry a character has never been greater, forever learning from those around him.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
CHRIS CRAYMER is first and foremost a storyteller. Whether he’s working on editorial or advertising stills, directing commercials, or as an independent filmmaker, Chris’ trademark is his ability to elicit subtle, fascinating truths from his subjects. He creates work that is both relatable and aspirational.
Chris is always looking for a wide array of characters to work with. He always seeks to create a comfortable environment for all his clients whether they are a Hollywood star or stepping in front of the camera for their very first time. He is always seeking to create imagery that combine his skills in portrait, fashion, and beauty photography with his passion for directing dramatic independent films. For Chris, every project he works on combines his artistic sensibility with his search for that extra performance that makes his work unique. As such he creates moments of love, confusion, trust, delight, or fear in ways that fascinate and intrigue us. By putting his emphasis on story and authenticity as opposed to “perfect pictures,” Chris creates unusually evocative stills photography, witty and compassionate commercials, and tender, yet powerful film narratives.
Find more of Chris’s work at www.chriscraymer.com
MAKING A FILM IN THE UK
I have loved living in the USA for the last ten years, but have never lost my connection with the UK, which I still call home. The UK is part of my DNA and although life has been good in the USA for my family and I, there is an emotional attachment that always brings me back to my British roots and heritage.
When I decided to write the film, I felt naturally pulled to writing all the dialogue in “English” English. Somehow, I am drawn to everything being ‘fine and dandy’ rather than ‘awesome’, I imagine going for ‘tea’ rather than ‘coffee’, and of course when things go wrong ‘bollocks’ seems so much more apt than shouting out ‘crap’!
Then there is the landscape of the UK. I have been going to Camber Sands for thirty years. I love the raw wildness in winter as much as I love the cafés with the staple diet of fish and chips and extra strong tea in summer. The town of Rye where we also filmed has an Inn that dates back to 1156 and that sense of history fills me with pride and affection. I think leaving the UK has made my heart grow fonder. This deeply personal film somehow had to be made back home. I was always writing from my heart and subconscious so it naturally became the choice for the characters and location.
NEWS
Gifts Of The Heart is a winner at the Hollywood Just4Shorts and screenplay competition for July 25th 2019.
Gifts Of The Heart has been accepted to Best Short Fest 2019.
Gifts Of The Heart has been nominated for best short in the Orlando Film festival 2019.
Gifts Of The Heart has been accepted into Reedy Reels film festival.
Gifts Of The Heart has won Best Romantic Short at the Love Story Film Festival London in February 2020.
Gifts Of The Heart has been accepted into the Rochester International Film Festival.
Gifts Of The Heart has been accepted into the HollyShorts Monthly Screenings 2020 in May 2020.
Tamzin Merchant won Best Lead Actress in a lead role for her role in Gifts Of The Heart at the Global Independent Awards 2020.
Gifts Of The Heart is a semi finalist at the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival 2020.
Gifts Of The Heart is a winner at the New York Shorts International Film Festival 2020.
Gifts Of The Heart has been accepted into the Breckenridge Film Festival 2020.
Tamzin Merchant won best actress in a lead role for Gifts Of The Heart at the Cutting Room International Film Festival 2020.
Mike Beckingham won best actor in a lead role for Gifts Of The Heart at the Cutting Room International Film Festival 2020.
Chris Craymer won best director for Gifts Of The Heart at the Cutting Room International Film Festival 2020
Gifts Of The Heart won best film at the Cutting Room International Film Festival 2020.
Gifts Of The Heart won best film at the Procida International Film Festival 2020.
