Flesh, Blood, Even A Heart

Liv, a thirty - something videographer, wants the family she never had, but her dream is put on hold when her estranged, alcoholic father suffers a stroke. Pulled into a Kafkaesque hospital frozen in its Soviet past, she becomes caretaker to his unconscious body while childhood memories come rushing back. As Liv struggles with flashbacks, the cold, exhausted staff, and their illogical rules, her no-nonsense mother, shaped by another era, gets by with sweets, bartering, and bribes.

Meanwhile, her relationship hits a rough patch as her boyfriend Marcis, hides behind his armor — literally — and retreats into his own regrets just when she needs him most. Trapped between the broken family she was born into and the uncertain one she hopes to build, Liv begins to question whether forgiveness can truly heal — or if some wounds are meant to keep us company forever.

Directors Statement

This story focuses on a generation that, fearing they’ll become their parents, sometimes avoid becoming parents altogether. Absent fathers have been painfully common, especially in Eastern Europe. While often dismissed as “daddy issues," this trauma deeply shapes our lives. I hope this film honestly, with lightness and humor, embodies the experience of my generation and my mother’s generation and contributes to a collective healing as we move toward a more conscious approach to parenthood.

FLESH, BLOOD, EVEN A HEART asks if we can overcome the scars of a fatherless childhood and find acceptance within ourselves, rather than in others. Alise Zariņa also examines the gender roles that make women take on the emotional burden in relationships.

The absurd realities of a harsh, underfunded hospital system—still shaped by the post-Soviet authoritarian legacy — serve as a backdrop for the characters' emotional journeys. These realities are inspired by real stories collected from patients' relatives and hospital workers, adding depth to the exploration of body memory, death, sexuality, delayed motherhood, and the fears tied to them.