What It Feels Like is a personal animated documentary that investigates the emotional imagery behind the words that people unwillingly hear. Voice hearing is a common mental health condition that many individuals live with. The documentary presents inventive “flipbook” animation in real world locations to imaginatively depict what it feels like to hear these voices.

Synopsis

What It Feels Like investigates different themes associated with Voice Hearing. Using these evocative themes I tell the story of an unnamed protagonist who lives with the positives and negatives of hearing voices. The viewer experiences the variety of emotions, turmoils, passions, triumphs and hardships that voice hearing can present. Dazzling animation brings the unique voices to life and acts as a striking physical representation of the “otherness” associated with hearing voices.

Screenings

INTERFACE/Video Art Event, IX Edition – Oradea, Romania – 19/05/2018

Indie Best Film Festival, Santa Monica, USA – 04/07/2018

European Film Festival of Integration, Koszalin, Poland – 04/09/2018

Focus on Ability Film Festival, Sydney, Australia – 05/09/2018 – Winner International Documentary

Wexford Documentary Film Festival, Wexford, Ireland – 21/09/2018

BALKANIMA – European Animated Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia – 02/10/2018

Factual Animation Film Festival 2018, London, England – 07/10/2018

Canberra Mental Health Film Festival, Canberra, Australia – 13/10/2018

Locomocion/Experimental Animation Festival, Mexico City, Mexico – 15/10/2018

ZINETXIKI International Film Festival, Bilbao, Spain – 27/10/2018

St Neots Film Festival, Cambridgeshire, England – 07/11/2018 – Winner Best Documentary Short

Lobo Fest – Fesitval Internacional de Filmes, Brasilia, Brazil – 07/11/2018

35th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kassel, Germany – 16/11/2018

Festival Internacional de Cine con Medios Alternativos (FICMA), Mexico City, Mexico – 21/11/2018

Walthamstow Smartphone Film Festival, London, England – 23/11/2018 Winner Best Amateur Short Film

Inshort Film Festival 2018, Lagos, Nigeria – 20/12/2018

Life Safety International Film Festival 2018, Pristina, Kosovo – 24/01/2019

Velcom Smartfilm Festival, Minsk, Bealrus  -24/01/2019

ANNY: Animation Nights New York, New York, USA – 19/02/2019

Cinema Perpetuum Mobile ISFF, Minsk, Belarus – 04/04/2019

Animakom Fest 2019, Bilbao, Spain – 04/04/2019

Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2019, Glasgow, Scotland – 06/05/2019

SmartPhilm Festival, Washington D.C, USA – 02/06/2019 – Winner Smart Documentary Award

Hamburg International Short Film Festival 2019, Hamburg, Germany – 06/06/2019

Southside Film Festival 2019, Glasgow, Scotland – 09/06/2019

International Festival of Health and Red Cross Films, Varna, Bulgaria – 14/06/2019

Dolgoji Experimental Shorts, Seoul, South Korea – 14/06/2019 – Winner Best Experimental Short – Judges Award

BlackBox Short Film Festival, Aarau, Switzerland – 31/08/2019

International Film Festival “Cinema and You”, Mariupol, Ukraine – 15/09/2019

BIDEODROMO Internacional Experimental Film and Video, Bilbao, Spain – 22/09/2019

17th Seize The Film Festival , Novi Sad, Serbia –  29/09/2019

Perth Mental Health Film Festival, Perth, Australia – 06/10/2019

Melbourne Mental Health Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia – 06/10/2019

Vigo Inclusive Film Festival, Vigo, Spain – 22/10/2019

TOFUZI International Animated Film Festival, Batumi, Georgia – 26/10/2019

Oska Bright Film Festival, Hove, England – 26/10/2019

Edinburgh Short Film Festival – Edinburgh, Scotland – 9/11/2019

Athens Digital Arts Festival 2019 – Athens, Greece – 17/11/2019

British Animation Awards – Public Choice Screenings (18 dates across the UK) 13/01/2020 – 17/02/2020

ScotsdayOut Film Festival – Bendigo, Australia – 29/02/2020

ReelAbilities Film Festival New York – New York, USA – 31/03/2020

ISmart Film Festival – Karachi, Pakistan – 17/06/2020

Sit Down Shutup And Watch Film & New Media Festival  – Southern Australia – 14/10/2020

ReelAbilities Film Festival Los Angeles – Los Angeles, USA – 17/10/2020

Detmold Barrier-Free International Short Film Festival  – Detmold, Germany – 23/10/2020

Adelaide International Film Festival – Adelaide, Southern Australia – 25/10/2020

First Cultural Festival by the National Polytechnic Institute – Mexico City, Mexico – 14/11/2020

Krakow Int Film Festival Etiuda & Anima –  Krakow, Poland – 17/11/2020

Inclus Film Festival – Barcelona, Spain – 24/11/2020

Together 2020! Disability Film Festival – Online – 03/12/2020

Betevé Televsion – Spain – 04/12/2020

7th Super 9 Mobile Film Festival 2020 – Porto, Portugal – Online 2020

The Other Film Festival – Perth Australia – 20/02/2021

Toronto Smart Film Festival  – Toronto, Canada  – 18/06/2021

Neurodivergent Film Festival – Online 2020 – 10/07/2021 – Winner Self-Determination Category

Cinema and You – Mariupol, Ukraine – 02/09/2021

Neurostages – Glasgow Scotland – 15/10/2021

Korean Parallel Smartphone Film Festival – Seoul, South Korean  – 09/11/2021