When Pigs Fly

Denise Riedmayr / Germany / 2026 / Czech Premiere / 79 min.

synopsis

Pigs have been humanity’s companions for millennia. The domestic pig has become livestock, food, a commodity for consumption. How has our relationship changed with creatures so close to us in evolutionary terms? This philosophical and anthropological exploration examines a new field of genetic engineering in practice: pigs have become growers of hearts for humans. How do we perceive a creature whose beating heart is destined for transplantation into a human body? Are the species drawing symbolically closer? The film opens up the prospect of ethical pig farming as the beginning of a new era of humanistic genetics.

“Is your heart a defining part of who you are? Does it hold memories of first kisses, shattered dreams, summer days, and a life lived? Or is it just a muscle that pumps blood around your body?” Source of the quote.

biography

Denise Riedmayr (1993) studied documentary filmmaking at the University of Television and Film Munich. She works as a freelance director and screenwriter for the public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. Her debut short, Aufarbeiten (2018), won an award at the Regensburg Short Film Week. When Pigs Fly is her graduation film.