We Are Fireflies

We Are Fireflies is a documentary about a mother and daughter’s lived experience of violence and silence and is part of a longer graphic novel in the making by Sophie Smiles. It was originally created as an immersive experience, played on a loop and projected onto a large sculpture, as part of the degree show at the University of Westminster. Sophie’s dissertation explored the role of graphic autobiography as a unique medium for acknowledging, understanding and expressing trauma and her final project resulted in this animation, demonstrating graphic narrative as a powerful means to transmit the complex landscape of the psyche.

Chalk and charcoal images accompany recorded voices of a mother and daughter and an original musical score conjures intensity of despair. A deliberately fragmented narrative - since that is what trauma is like - depicts two young women’s experience of sexual violence and silence. Inspired by the work of Gabor Mate and Bessel van der Kolk, this artwork is a glimpse into intergenerational trauma, the invisible force shaping the lives of these two women, and so many others.

‘We Are Fireflies’ has been selected as a winning finalist for the Best Animated Short at Raindance Festival, a semi finalist at the International New Orleans Film Festival and screened at Change The Script, a social justice film festival in Ontario Canada. You can see We Are Fireflies next at the Horse Hospital, at the London International Animation Festival, along side the other shortlisted animations with a Q&A.

For more information, contact Sophie here.