“The Hearts that Bleed & Bloom,” Seth Bakke’s award-winning debut short film, begins with an everyday phone call between mother and son. But the routine jokes and “I love yous” quickly becomes once in a lifetime when a heart attack strikes the unassuming son. Now, Mary rushes through the hospital in search of her son, only to find out the worst. Catapulted into grief, Mary sets out on a mission of consolation, to find meaning in the grand scheme of the worst moment of her life. The journey she takes will surprise you, from the confidential file cabinets of the hospital that treated her son to the doorstep of a total stranger. What she’ll find is the heart of her grief and the beginning of solace at the exact same time. All Mary has to do is listen.

The idea for the film was born from sports events and morning local news specials that featured the rare and emotional moments when organ recipients meet the families of the donors who made their survival possible. These encounters are often framed by gratitude and humility, but beneath them lies something far more profound: a quiet sense of continuity for families navigating unimaginable loss, the understanding that a part of their loved one lives on in another.

That deeply human truth became the emotional foundation of the story. From the moment Seth recognized it, he believed that if the film could capture this experience with honesty and attention, it could reveal an unexpected beauty shaped by grief rather than defined by it. It started by constructing the narrative around a deliberate misdirect surrounding the identity of Mary’s son, guiding audiences toward a powerful final revelation. The film ultimately culminates in a moment of intimate recognition as Mary listens to her son’s heartbeat inside another man’s chest; a scene that reflects the uniquely human bond created through organ donation. At its core, the film explores how healing can emerge alongside loss, and how human connection allows life to echo far beyond its absence.

The festival community felt the power of the story, that scene, and overall message. In its initial festival circuit, “Hearts” was recognized at Oscar-qualifying fests like LA Shorts and Flickers’ Rhode Island, and Seth was awarded “Best New Filmmaker” for the film at the Hollywood Boulevard Film Festival. Now, the “Hearts” team is excited to publicly premiere their film on Youtube’s top short film sharing channel, Omeleto, home to the next generation of great filmmakers.

When he’s not creating his own films, writer/director Seth Bakke is learning the ins and outs of the industry from Hollywood’s own: Jerry Bruckheimer. As his personal assistant, Seth is gaining a front-row seat to large-scale filmmaking while refining the intimate visual language that defines his own.