In distribution
May Our Voices Prevail
The film
SYNOPSIS
The story
Carried by the real voices of three women who have experienced intimate partner violence, this stop-motion film tells the fictional story of Jeanne and Pierre. Their love gradually fractures under the grip of anger, while the natural world around them transforms and collapses with their relationship.
Director’s Note
May Our Voices Be Heard was born from a growing sense of helplessness as more and more women around me shared their experiences. The accumulation of these stories created an urgency to act. Animation became a space of care and protection — a place where voices can be heard without exposing faces, where intimacy can be shared safely.
Director’s Bio
Marianne Khayat
Marianne Khayat is an animation filmmaker who trained in cartoon animation at Cégep du Vieux Montréal and graduated from Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.
Her work explores memory, intimacy, and family ties through a practice deeply rooted in the material. Attracted by textures and traces of movement, she favors artisanal techniques—notably stop-motion and mixed media—where imperfection, surface, and the presence of the hand become narrative elements in their own right.
Her films have been presented at several festivals in Canada and internationally, including Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation, Stop Motion Montreal, the Toronto Queer Film Festival, and the Concordia Film Festival, where Une histoire de nez won the award for best documentary.
At the crossroads of documentary and animation, Marianne Khayat develops a sensitive cinema that gives shape to memories, voices, and lived experiences, seeking to reveal the fragility and depth of the human experience.
Stills and archive material
Credits
- Writer and director
- Marianne Khayat
- Voices
- Frédéric Millaire Zouvi, Jeanne Roux-Côté, Juliette Gariépy and Luca Max
- Director of photography
- Stéphanie Weber Biron
- Music
- Jad Orphée Chami
- Art direction
- Julie Morvant Mortreuil
- Editing
- Célia Dehouche
- Sound recording
- Émilie Blaise and Francis Livara
- Sound design and mixing
- Francis Livara
- Writing consultant
- Sandra Eber
- Producers
- Rui Ting Ji and Bertrand Paquette
- Executive producers
- Colin L. Racicot and Simon Allard
- Animation
- Laura Stewart and Marianne Khayat
- Abstract sequence
- Marie-Ève Drolet
Support and collaborators
SODEC, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and Outpost MTL.
News about the film
QNVL: exhibition opening and team screening at La Cenne
A look back at the exhibition opening and private team screening of Let our voices be heard at La Cenne.
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SODEC supports Let our voices be heard
We’re delighted to announce SODEC’s support for the development of Let our voices be heard, an animated short by Marianne Khayat. Congratulations, Marianne! …
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