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The Heart Is a Muscle

Panorama 2025
© The Star Film Company
Ryan is a loving father in his mid-30s. He and his wife Laila have their hands full on their son Jude’s fifth birthday: Ryan’s close friends and their families have come over for a barbecue. The children are excited, the adults chatting animatedly, the place is filled with laughter. But this fun day is abruptly cut short when Jude suddenly goes missing. Panic spreads and a frantic search begins. When Ryan hears that Jude has been spotted in an area controlled by gangs, he drives off to that neighbourhood and beats up a man who, it later transpires, has nothing to do with the disappearance. Shortly afterwards, Jude is found: he had been hiding nearby as a prank. But the events have upset the equilibrium among the group of friends. An argument breaks out and secrets from Ryan’s past emerge. Later, the man whom Ryan beat up arrives and demands money. Also the father of a five-year-old child, he used to know Ryan when they were both teenagers...
With hip-hop influences, The Heart Is a Muscle tells the story of a young father’s search for a better version of himself, and of masculinity, transgenerational trauma and healing.
by Imran Hamdulay (Director, Screenplay)
with Keenan Arrison, Melissa De Vries, Loren Loubser, Dean Marais, Ridaa Adams, Danny Ross, Troy Paulse, Lincoln Van Wyk South Africa / Saudi Arabia 2025 Afrikaans, English 86' Colour World premiere | Debut film

With

  • Keenan Arrison (Ryan)
  • Melissa De Vries (Laila)
  • Loren Loubser (Meghan)
  • Dean Marais (André)
  • Ridaa Adams (Zaheer)
  • Danny Ross (Anees)
  • Troy Paulse (Jude)
  • Lincoln Van Wyk (Leslie)

Crew

Director Imran Hamdulay
Screenplay Imran Hamdulay
Cinematography Kabeer Shaik
Editing Paul Speirs
Music Tapiwa Musvosvi
Sound Design Jade Hill
Production Design Tiffany Matthews
Producers Imran Hamdulay, Brett Michael Innes, Khosie Dali
Executive Producer Adam Thal

Produced by

The Star Film Company

World Sales

MMM Film Sales

Photos

Imran Hamdulay

The writer, director and producer lives in Cape Town, South Africa. An alumnus of Berlinale Talents and a Film Independent fellow, he was featured on CNN’s Inside Africa as one of “Africa’s Directors to Watch”. He is co-writer and producer of the crime thriller Sons of the Sea which won Best Feature Film at the Durban International Film Festival. His most recent short The Wait won Best Short at the same festival. The Heart is a Muscle is his debut feature film as a writer and director.

Filmography

2018 Footprints; short film 2023 The Wait; short film 2025 The Heart Is a Muscle

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025