I just returned from the Oscars, where a film we funded, “Open Heart,” was up for an Academy Award. The film did not win, but the impact has already been great: the nomination resulted in a screening for Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Agnes Binagwaho. As a result, and together with Partners In Health, she is committed to establishing a national program that will ensure that no child — from whatever background — dies from rheumatic heart disease in Rwanda, and she is already in the process of establishing a Center of Excellence in Cardiac Care at Rwinkwavu Hospital.
The film follows eight Rwandan children who leave their families behind and embark on a life-or-death journey to receive high-risk open-heart surgery in Africa’s only free-of-charge, state-of-the-art cardiac hospital, the Salam Center run by Emergency, an Italian NGO. Their heart valves, damaged and weakened by rheumatic heart disease, which develops from untreated childhood strep throat, leave them lethargic and weak. Some of the children have only months to live.
The statistics aren’t good: rheumatic heart disease affects 18 million people in Africa, and 300,000 die from it every year. A hundred years ago, it was the leading cause of death for children in the United States as well. Its cause is untreated strep throat, which can be easily cured with antibiotics.
Skoll provided the initial funding for this film through our Stories of Change partnership with the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. Director Kief Davidson was working on a Stories of Change film about Partners in Health’s work in Rwanda and began following one of their patients, Angelique Tuyishimere, who has severe rheumatic heart disease. When the opportunity arose to follow Angelique’s journey to Sudan for life-saving surgery, Kief immediately understood the potential power of that story. “Open Heart” was the result.
I had the privilege of going to the Academy Awards Ceremony representing the Skoll Foundation as we waited to see if “Open Heart” would win for Best Documentary Short. It was a fabulous night. We may not have won the Oscar, but when it comes to impact, we definitely won.
The day started at the Four Seasons Hotel, where we all gathered before heading over to the Academy Awards in stretch limos organized and provided by HBO (who acquired the film soon after it was nominated). Our group included director Kief Davidson, producer Cori Shepherd Stern, and Doctors Gino Strada and Emmanuel Rusingiza from the film, as well as me, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Director Cara Mertes, Kief’s lovely parents Tom and Francine Davidson, and Nancy Stephens, who also helped to fund the film. Unfortunately, it proved too complicated for Angelique to attend. We missed her very much.
The red carpet was as glamorous as ever, and the Open Heart team represented the film – and the issues – beautifully. Our sister organization Participant Media was there as well, with well-deserved nominations (and two Oscars!) for “Lincoln” and “No.” We were all very proud to represent such strong films and substantive issues at the Academy Awards.
It was almost 11pm when we made it back to the Four Seasons, so sadly I never made it to any of the after-parties. However, I walked away even more proud of the Skoll Foundation. “Open Heart” has been universally embraced, including this wonderful piece on NPR last week, and nothing beats the prospect of eliminating rheumatic heart disease in Rwanda and beyond.
