A Foreign Heart receives production support from the Norwegian Film Institute

Dovre, October 13, 2026

The Norwegian Film Institute has awarded NOK 750,000 in production support to A Foreign Heart (Et fremmed hjerte), the new animated short by Oscar-nominated director Anton Dyakov. The film was one of four shorts funded through NFI’s artistic assessment scheme this quarter. It is a big step for a project that has been on a long road. Some of you may remember it from last summer, when it was still called Gunpowder Man.

A Foreign Heart is a 15-minute, hand-drawn 2D animation. It tells the story of Petr, a kind-hearted baker who falls in love with Elena, a nurse, while he is in hospital. When he wakes up, she is gone, and so is his heart. In its place beats something mechanical. Petr’s search for her leads him somewhere no one should have to go.

It is an anti-war tragedy about an ordinary man crushed by forces far bigger than himself. Anton wrote the first draft in December 2022, when the war uprooted both him and the people around him. Since then the film has had to find a new home, and new hands to carry it. Its subject has only become more urgent.

The film is a Norwegian–French co-production between Trollfilm and Les Films du Poisson Rouge, led by Catherine Esteves. At Trollfilm, Trygve Selnes Nielsen and Claus Gladyszak are the producers. Claus and Anton recently completed Black Box together, and they bring that experience straight into this film..

The news comes at a fitting moment. From 21 to 25 October 2026, Anton is a guest at Fredrikstad Animation Festival, where Black Box screens in the Nordic-Baltic Short Film competition. It’s a chance to show one film while the next one begins to take shape.

NFI’s support completes a puzzle that others started. Østnorsk Film Center was the first to believe in the project, with NOK 400,000 in 2025. Fond for Lyd og Bilde followed with NOK 200,000. Together with our French partners, they have made this film possible, and the NOK 1.8 million budget is now fully financed.

We are deeply grateful to all of them for believing in this story. It means a great deal to us, and to Anton. Now the real work begins: frame by frame, heartbeat by heartbeat.

Regards from Team Trollfilm