Animating Silence is a hybrid, animated documentary that transforms spoken histories from vulnerable communities into visual narratives. Blending hand-drawn 2D rotoscoping, line art and AI-assisted generative techniques, the work uses animation as a voice and a veil, preserving emotion while masking the speaker’s identity. 

Set in the Philippines against a backdrop of political repression and disinformation, this project focuses on untold stories of resistance, migration and survival, particularly from outside the capital. By fusing real voices with stylised, imperfect textures, Animating Silence reflects the fragmented, non-linear nature of memory and trauma. 

This has been produced across multiple mediums – film, installation, and online – engaging audiences in multiple spaces while ensuring the safety of its subjects. The visual language resists polished mainstream aesthetics, instead embracing rough lines, muted, vivid contrasts and masked characters to communicate urgency, intimacy and collective resilience. Through this approach, Animating Silence asks how can we protect truth without diminishing its impact? In doing so, it positions animation not merely as a storytelling device, but as a method of cultural preservation and an act of quiet defiance.

After completing my MA at AUB, I plan to move forward with the full production of my project proposal, building on the research, creative development and technical skills I have gained during my studies. 

My immediate focus will be on refining the documentary elements of the work, ensuring its narrative and visual approach remain both authentic and compelling. I aim to collaborate with an experienced producer to strengthen the project’s production strategy and to actively seek funding and partnership opportunities with organisations, film funds and cultural institutions that share its vision. 

In the longer term, I aspire to continue this line of inquiry within an academic context by pursuing it as my PhD project, allowing me to deepen both the creative and theoretical dimensions of the work while contributing to broader conversations in the fields of animation, documentary and cultural memory.