For the project initiators Annette Mari Olsen and Katia Forbert Petersen of SFINX Film/TV the

aim of the documentary series 5 Heartbeats has been to generate space for cultural diversity

through the medium of film. They invited the director Reza Parsa and the manuscript author Johan

Bergman Lindfors to write a manifesto forming the inspirational framework for the content of the

5 Heartbeats. The result is five films written and directed by people from different ethnic and

cultural backgrounds. What the five young directors have in common is that 5 Heartbeats

represents their professional debut, with Sami Saif as the project’s dramaturgic consultant and Ulla

Hjort Nielsen as the production manager. In compliance with the manifesto all the films in 5

Heartbeats are artistic portrayals of life, portrayals in which cultural background and values are

secondary to what we all share - our feelings.