Beating Death (1x120') has been sold to the broadcaster by Wall to Wall, the UK indie that produced the film for Discovery (US) and Channel 4 (UK). It will air on Rai 3 in Italy and on C4 in the UK over the winter season.
The film follows Christiaan Barnard, a charismatic South African surgeon, who cut out a man's damaged heart and replaced it with a heart from a brain-dead donor, on December 3, 1967. He carried out the operation in total secrecy, in the face of controversy and condemnation.
Leading heart transplant surgeon Dr Mehmet Oz hosts the film, which stars Rupert Graves, Ben Miles and Darrell D'Silva.
Rai's head of documentaries Lorenzo Pinna acquired the docudrama version of the film, which is also available as a pure drama. It was executive-produced by Wall to Wall head of factual Leanne Klein and produced by Simon Chinn.
