A collaboration between director Tanner (Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000) and actress Mézières (who has appeared in many of his films), A Flame in My Heart is an intense portrait of obsessive love. Written by Mézières on the basis of conversational notes and shot quickly in 16mm on a relatively minuscule budget with an intimate crew of four people, the film follows Mercedes, an actress who breaks away from her exceptionally persistent Arab lover only to become obsessed herself with a journalist she meets on the Métro. Sensuously photographed in black and white, the film drew attention for its surprisingly graphic sex scenes and the intensity of Mézières's performance, at times so searing that it threatens the safety of fictional distance.