Jacqueline Zünd’s new feature doc Heat, set for release in Spring 2026, explores the “condition” of heat in the Persian Gulf, one the hottest regions on the planet.
“The film deals with one of the most pressing global challenges of our time,” producer Louis Mataré (Lomotion AG) tell Business Doc Europe. “Rather than relying on dystopian visions or didactic messaging, the film explores the sensory and emotional resonance of heat as both a physical state and a social metaphor…the project uses deeply human stories to reflect on how heat affects our minds, bodies, interactions, and inequalities.”
He further underlines the essence of the project: “Heat is like a magnifying glass, amplifying and intensifying character traits, moods, emotions, as well as economic and social disparities. Heat can be a trip and a state of emergency, it can be longing but also torment.”
This is illustrated by the story of Sophy, a young Kenyan who works at an ice bar kept at -6° Celsius, serving hot chocolate to the rich who enjoy the cold in the desert heat. We further encounter Carina, a real estate agent from Sharjah, who loads her car with huge blocks of ice and then drives to the shore, where she places the ice between the rocks to save wild cats from heatstroke. We meet a renowned meteorologist trying in vain to promote climate awareness in Kuwait, while Tarik, a delivery driver from Egypt, services rich folk while enduring 12-hour shifts in intense heat.
“Jacqueline Zünd brings a unique vision to Heat, rooted in her signature blend of poetic realism and emotional authenticity,” producer Mataré tells BDE of his director. “She explores existential states — insomnia in Goodnight Nobody, family separation in Where We Belong — and now turns her lens toward climate-induced heat. Her strength lies in making the invisible felt. Through carefully captured scenes, she creates intimate psychological landscapes. Her use of inner voice narration, observational intimacy, and stylized imagery makes the abstract tangible.” Zünd’s fiction debut Don’t Let The Sun (Catch You Crying) is currently in post-production.
In Nyon, Mataré is looking to raise the remaining 5% of the project’s €850,000 budget. “Our primary target is to find additional partners for the distribution of the film,” he says. “With SRF and ARTE we already have great partners on board. So a deal with a world-sales [company] would be fantastic.”
“With sequences of abstract imagery, the film captures the vertigo, the loss of control, and the distortion of perception, making the heat physically tangible,” he further underlines in his notes for the project. “Focusing on the Persian Gulf as one of the hottest regions on the planet, Heat paints a panorama of human stories, moods, and survival strategies. It’s a glimpse into a possible future for all of us.”
