EXCLUSIVE: AF, the production company founded by Frank Ariza (Sorry, Baby), has acquired the rights to adapt Where Are You, Heart?, a short story from an anthology by Argentinian novelist Mariana Enríquez, and hired Spanish filmmaker Marçal Forès (Olympo) to direct.
Where Are You, Heart? is one of 12 short stories in The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, a 2009 anthology by Enríquez. The book was translated into English in 2021 and was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. The book, published in Spain by Editorial Anagrama, explores everyday horrors—a recurring theme in the work of Enríquez, who is best known for using classic horror elements like ghosts and rituals to explore the social and political realities of her home country.
Where Are You, Heart? follows a main character who realizes at a very young age that she is aroused by the terminally ill. After some exploration, she discovers that her true obsession is with people suffering from heart disease. The synopsis reads: It’s a story where death, illness, and sex are intricately connected.
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed has been published in 54 editions and translated into more than 16 languages. Enríquez has also published Things We Lost in the Fire (2016) and Our Share of Night (2019). Her work has attracted increasing big-screen attention in recent years, with Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín locking a deal last month to direct an adaptation of her short story My Sad Dead for Netflix. That will be a four-part series on the streamer.
Forès is a Barcelona-born filmmaker. He directed all three films in the popular Netflix YA trilogy Through My Window, the 2014 feature Everlasting Love, which played Outfest and Sitges, and the episodes of the Netflix series Olympo.
