HEAR MY VOICE is a cinematic tribute to those who suffered loss as a result of the Northern Irish conflict (1968-1998). Timed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement that brought violence to an end, the film is inspired by artist Colin Davidson’s elegiac exhibition of paintings, Silent Testimony. Using Davidson’s paintings as the film’s visual spine, HEAR MY VOICE paints its own impactful portrait of life after loss in a cinematic exploration of survival and the strength of the human spirit. Each of the portrait sitters are linked by profound loss, with their own unique story to tell. The sheer scale and detail of the portraits allows for close examination of the lines, brush strokes and layers of paint that make up the subjects’ faces, their eyes and expressions saying so much more than any filmed interview could convey; horror and dignity etched in equal measure. The interviews with the sitters are used in audio only, avoiding comparison with the real person and allowing a detailed study of their portraits. The exhibition was hung and filmed in a disused warehouse, echoing the ghosts of the sitter’s lost loved ones. The camera cuts between elegant tracks of each of the paintings, revealing the curved lines between the brush strokes, craters between the paint which creates space for the audience to contemplate the tragic nuances behind the unfolding stories. The film gives a neglected voice to those citizens who are still paying the price of Northern Ireland’s peace today, their experiences as relevant to those surviving loss in other cauldrons of conflict such as Syria, Iraq and Rohinga, or those families recovering from random acts of violence in Paris, Berlin or Toronto. Complemented by a classical score by composer Brian Byrne, the beautiful cinematography of Richard Kendrick and the skilful editing of Greg Darby, HEAR MY VOICE becomes a poetic testament to the resilience of Northern Ireland’s forgotten victims and a cri de couer for an Ireland free of armed conflict.