Rob Munday

“Creativity takes courage” – Henri Matisse’s words feel especially fitting when watching Olivér Hegyi’s surreal yet deeply relatable short, A szív kertje (The Garden of Heart). Focusing on a young artist grappling with low self-esteem during an interview at the Academy of Fine Arts, this raw and heartfelt animation serves as a powerful reminder that creating meaningful art requires vulnerability – a trait this film embodies in abundance.

“I wanted to make a film about my ego and its automatic reactions in a funny way”

Given how personal The Garden of Heart is to its creator, it’s no surprise that Hegyi crafted the film as a way to confront his own struggles with self-doubt. “I’ve always been struggling with low self esteem and the lack of confidence mostly when it was about creating art,” he shares. “I wanted to make a film about my ego and its automatic reactions in a funny way”.

Creating art often involves baring one’s soul, and that’s exactly what Hegyi seems to be doing with The Garden of Heart. Using the film as a way to confront his frustrations and fears, the director admits he’s uncertain how successful he’s been in achieving this. From the outset, he struggled with doubts about the short, but these concerns have been eased by viewers’ responses, many of whom have found the film deeply relatable.

“I am a kind of a one man army, so I usually do the visuals, the voice and the music” – Hegyi discussing his production.

That relatability is one of the film’s most endearing qualities, making it almost impossible not to empathise with the protagonist’s worries. Despite his anxiety manifesting in unusual forms – a giant slug, an alien caterpillar – the underlying concerns remain universally familiar. Is his work good enough? Does he have what it takes to pursue his chosen path? Sound familiar?

With Hegyi admitting his fondness for Naive art, this approach feels like the perfect match for the narrative of The Garden of Heart. Often criticised by art purists for breaking classical rules, this “simplistic” style couldn’t be more fitting for a story about an artist wrestling with self-doubt. In the film, one of the interviewers describes the protagonist’s work as “all over the place” – also an apt characterisation of Hegyi’s approach? Yet, while the panelist intends it as a critique, I see it as a compliment. The film’s style is surprising, unique, and perfectly tailored to its story. Though Hegyi likely didn’t create The Garden of Heart purely seeking validation, its success at festivals, and now online, ensures that validation is a well-earned byproduct.