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