before it's too late
SYNOPSIS
Tiny Hearts follows world-renowned pediatric heart surgeon Dr. William Novick as he ventures into conflict regions saving the lives of children with life-threatening heart conditions, all while battling his own health challenges.
Through incredible obstacles and extreme conditions, this documentary captures powerful stories of resilience, hope, and the heroic mission to heal the most fragile hearts in the world’s most dangerous places.
Over one million babies are born each year with congenital heart disease
To put that in perspective, that's enough to fill a large college stadium over 10 times.
Dr. William Novick, through the Global Cardiac Alliance, faces an overwhelming challenge: to bridge the gap between life and death for these children. While advanced cardiac care is readily available in developed nations, countless infants in low- and middle-income countries are left without access to life-saving surgeries. Tiny Hearts shines a light on this global disparity, revealing the urgent need for sustainable pediatric cardiac programs worldwide, championed by Dr. Novick and the Global Cardiac Alliance.
WATCH
The Trailer
MESSAGE
from the director
It started as a story—just an idea in 2019. A pediatric heart surgeon risking everything to save babies in war zones. But over five years, through two kids of my own, a global pandemic, and countless miles across conflict-ridden landscapes, Tiny Hearts became something far more personal. It became a testament to resilience, to sacrifice, and to the fragility of life itself.
I stood in hospitals where the air was thick with desperation. I met mothers—Syrian refugees clutching their infants as if sheer willpower could keep them alive, Ukrainian parents navigating missile strikes just to reach a doctor, families in resource-strapped villages praying for a miracle. And through it all, Dr. Bill Novick and his team did what they do best—saving lives against impossible odds.
Every time I returned home, I carried their stories with me. But nothing prepared me for the night I held my own feverish baby in a hospital in Los Angeles. A routine visit, a minor infection—easily treated. Yet, in that moment, I saw the stark divide. Here, a doctor within reach. There, a mother traveling for days, hoping her child’s heart would keep beating long enough. One million babies born each year with congenital heart disease. Most with nowhere to turn.
This film is no longer just a film. It’s a call to action. It’s my love letter to the parents fighting for their children, to the nurses, to the doctors, to every tiny heart that deserves a chance to keep beating.
This is Tiny Hearts.
CHRIS DELA CRUZ
WRITER/DIRECTOR
THE FILMMAKERS
MEET
Dr. novICk & the cardiac alliance
Dr. William Novick is a pioneering pediatric cardiac surgeon dedicated to providing life-saving heart surgeries for children in low- and middle-income countries. In 2014, he founded the Global Cardiac Alliance (GCA) to address the lack of pediatric cardiac care in these regions.
GCA works in partnership with governments, health ministries, and local medical teams to perform surgeries and train healthcare professionals, ensuring sustainable, long-term improvements in cardiac care. Since its inception, the organization has conducted over 168 medical trips across 20 countries, performing more than 10,000 surgeries.
This documentary film takes you along with Dr. Novick and his world-class team as they embark on a mission to give countless children a chance at life. Their mission is driven by the belief that every child, no matter where they are, deserves access to life-saving heart surgery.
Where there is war, there are children who need help, and without the dedication of Dr. Novick and the Global Cardiac Alliance their lives would be lost.
To learn more, please visit The Global Cardiac Alliance.
THE MISSION
BEHIND THE SCENES
PODCAST TEASERS
VISIT THE CHANNEL
Like-Hearted:
A FILMMAKER'S PATH
WRITTEN by chris dela cruz
Like-Hearted: A Filmmaker’s Path is a visceral, firsthand memoir from Writers Guild of Americamember Christopher Dela Cruz. Bringing two decades of industry experience from the editing room to the field, Dela Cruz offers an intimate account of what it truly takes to make a documentary where the line between observer and participant disappears, and where every creative decision carries real-world weight.
Traveling alongside renowned pediatric heart surgeon Dr. William Novick and his medical team, Dela Cruz documented life-saving surgeries on critically ill children in the world’s most volatile regions. What began as a film project evolved into a five-year test of endurance, ethics, and personal sacrifice.
Blue Babies, Bombs and Bad Places:
A surgeon’s journey developing pediatric cardiac surgery programs in conflict zones
WRITTEN BY William M Novick, M.D. and Amanda Rose
Dr. William M. Novick, one of the world’s foremost pediatric cardiac surgeons, has dedicated his life not to the polished halls of elite medicine but to the forgotten corners of the globe. His mission: to save the "blue babies"—infants with complex congenital heart defects—in countries where political instability, poverty, and conflict have extinguished all hope.
This is the raw, unflinching memoir of a decades-long journey into the heart of global chaos. Alongside his heroic, volunteer medical teams, Dr. Novick has brought life-saving surgery and sustainable medical training to over 35 countries, including Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, and Bosnia.
From navigating treacherous checkpoints and dodging mortar fire to performing delicate open-heart surgery with unstable power grids and limited resources, Novick recounts the operational nightmares and moral triumphs of his extraordinary career. He is not just treating patients; he is building a system of hope, training local doctors and nurses to continue the work long after he leaves.
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